Remember the MEC’s ​​failures in Enem and Sisu during the Lula administration – 02/02/2024 – Education

The Ministry of Education admitted this Friday (2) that there was improper disclosure of provisional Sisu (Unified Selection System) results. This was not the first failure in the selection process for higher education in the current administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

In addition to the students who were frustrated by the undue disclosure of results, around 50 thousand registered for the Enem test, whose score is used to access Sisu, were allocated to locations far from their homes. The notice guaranteed that participants would take the exam no more than 30 km away from their homes. Students reported distances of more than 40 km.

When admitting the problem, the ministry said that the definition of the test locations was made by Cebraspe (Brazilian Center for Research in Assessment and Selection and Promotion of Events), winner of the tender for the application of Enem 2023.

As there were reports of students considering giving up taking the exam, the MEC authorized these candidates to take the test on another date. But there were cases of students who preferred to take the exam on the original date and had to travel 33 kilometers.

The problems with Enem test sites took on political overtones. Minister Camilo Santana was even summoned to provide clarification on the logistical problems at a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies.

The hearing took place after the first administration of the test and Santana was also questioned about Enem questions that were supposedly ideological in nature.

In response, the minister stated that “there is no possibility of any political interference from this government in relation to the Enem tests”. The Agricultural Parliamentary Front published a note in which it requested the annulment of two questions on the grounds that the statements presented a “negative and distorted image of agribusiness”.

The questions were not cancelled. On the occasion, Manuel Palácios, president of Inep, the body responsible for preparing the test, reported that 86% of the Enem questions were prepared during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. He also defended the technical criteria for preparing the questions. The process involves choosing teacher educators through a public notice. The last one occurred in 2020.

After errors in the distribution of test locations, this Friday the MEC confirmed that it opened a “rigorous investigation” after finding that there had been improper disclosure of Sisu’s provisional results.

The consultation of the results of those approved was scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning, but the ministry announced that due to “technical problems in the system” it had to postpone the publication. Some candidates, however, managed to access the page and saw that they had been approved at the universities to which they applied.

Soon after, the system went offline. On the afternoon of Wednesday (31), when the MEC managed to make all the results available, some of the candidates who saw the information that they had been approved discovered that, in reality, they had not gotten the place.

“What happened was an improper disclosure of provisional results, not yet approved, for 25 minutes on the morning of January 30th. The incident is being rigorously investigated”, explained the MEC in a note.

Despite the series of problems, the ministry stated that “the system is secure and the official results will not be modified”. Registration for successful candidates in Sisu begins this Friday and runs until February 7th.

Sisu offers places at federal universities based on the Enem test. In total this year, more than 2 million students compete for 264 thousand places in 6,827 undergraduate courses in public institutions participating in Sisu.

The failure and delay in delivering Sisu results also impacted enrollment in Prouni (University for All Program), which grants scholarships at private universities. Due to the delay, the ministry decided to extend registration for the program for another day.

Despite giving access to different universities, registrations at Sisu and Prouni are interconnected. According to the MEC, candidates registered with Sisu can register with Prouni. However, if you are selected by both, you have to choose one of the two programs.