They start benchmarking with over 250,000 students taking digital tests.

Assessment tests start this week for 2nd year students, but it won’t be until the end of the month that digital tests will debut for more than 250,000 basic education students.

From May 2 to May 11, 1st cycle schools will conduct tests to assess the performance of 2nd year students in art education and physical education. A week later, from May 16 to May 26, the “season” of tests in physical education for students in grade 5 and information and communication technologies (ICT) for students in grade 8 begins.

All of these tests support the old model and therefore are not criticized, but the next ones will be digital and have caused strong opposition from guardians, teachers and school principals.

Principals warn that some schools have network problems and that some computers may fail during exams, and there are not enough computer technicians to provide support on exam days.

Teachers and guardians say the tests don’t make sense because knowledge lost during the pandemic is still being rebuilt, and many feel that 2nd year students, mostly seven-year-olds, may not be able to answer using a keyboard and mouse .

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Institute for Educational Evaluation (IAVE) acknowledged that some schools still do not have “perfect conditions”, but explained that these tests can be taken offline, not dependent on the Internet, and that students can be separated for two shifts so that everyone has enough equipment.

Regarding the difficulties that students may have in answering questions, Luis Pereira dos Santos recalled a pilot project carried out last year, during which 2nd year students gave answers in terms of quality and size of written production, similar to those of colleagues performing proofreading on paper. .

Luis Pereira dos Santos invites parents and teachers to access the IAVE website, where tests are available similar to those that students will take.

The IAVE schedule calls for Year 8 students to take the Observation and Science Communication Component of the Science and Physics, Chemistry Test on May 24, and Year 5 students to take the Portuguese language test on June 2.

This is followed by tests in Science and Physical Chemistry (8th grade), History and Geography of Portugal (5th grade) and Mathematics (8th grade), and only on June 15 will the exams for the 2nd grade arrive in digital. format: the first Portuguese language and the study of the environment and June 20 Mathematics and the study of the environment.

The first digital tests were piloted by IAVE in 2018 with 8th grade students who took the math test, and last year they piloted 6,000 students in 2nd, 5th and 8th grades.

This year, it will be the turn of a group of 9th graders to take digital tests to be universal for all 3rd cycle finalists in 2024.

This year, the 1st stage of the final exams for grade 9 will take place on June 16 (mathematics) and June 23 (Portuguese), when the national secondary exams will already begin.

Examinations of approximately 150,000 secondary school students enrolled in the 11th and 12th grade examinations begin on June 19 in Portuguese, Italian and Chinese subjects and end on July 3 in Descriptive Geometry A and History B.

Next year, it will be the turn of a group of high school students to take statewide exams digitally, with this to become ubiquitous practice in benchmarks, tests, and state exams by 2025.

At the moment, there is a group of parents who have stated that they will not take their children on exam days so that they do not have to take Year 2 assessments, and are encouraging other guardians through social media to follow the same path.

Lusa has contacted the Ministry of Education to see if they are aware of the movement, but has yet to receive any response.