Secondary education: Suspension of the new Enem affects 2.9 million – 04/04/2023 – Education

The decision of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government to suspend the implementation schedule of the new high school and bar changes planned to adapt the Enem to this reform will affect up to 2.9 million students.

The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, confirmed this Tuesday (4) that he will sign an ordinance that suspends the deadlines for implementing the new secondary education and also changes in the exam in 2024 – the year in which the curricular change process would be completed.

The suspension was decided, in large part, as a way to alleviate the wear and tear that the government has been feeling with the movement that calls for the repeal of the reform, in force since last year.

The new high school was approved in 2017, in the Michel Temer (MDB) government, by provisional measure, and the implementation schedule was defined during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government.

In general terms, the policy reformulated the curriculum for the final years of basic education, so as to provide that 40% of the load should be allocated to elective subjects organized within large areas of knowledge, the so-called training itineraries. Thus, traditional subjects, common to students, are limited to 60% of the curriculum.

Implementation for students began in 2022, in the 1st year of the stage, when all state networks in the country needed to adapt. Most private schools did the same.

In 2023, the change continued for 2nd year students and, in 2024, it would reach the 3rd classes, completing high school. Even in the face of strong criticism of the precariousness of the school offer, this schedule was being followed by the education networks.

Data from the 2022 School Census, the most recent, indicate that 2.9 million students in the 1st year and (discounting dropout and dropout rates) would be able to attend the 2nd year in this 2023 —thus being a potential contingent of candidates for Enem in 2024, when they should complete high school.

Without the change in the national exam, which is the main gateway to higher education, these students will have studied under the reformulated curriculum, but they will not take a test adapted to this reality.

The idea of ​​adapting the Enem consisted of taking different tests, aimed at each training itinerary, so that students could choose which one to take in line with what they had studied.

There are five itineraries planned with the reform of secondary education: languages, mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences and technical and professional training. If the student chose the mathematics itinerary, for example, he would have a greater load of exact sciences and a smaller load of humanities in the exam.

Now, if the Enem suitability suspension is maintained, they may have to take a general test—as is the case today—, even though they have not seen all the content.

Such as Sheet has shown, the implementation of the new secondary education registers a series of problems, such as the lack of itinerary options in many schools. Data collected by the Public School and University Network show that, in the state network of São Paulo, 36% of high schools offer only two training itineraries, which is the minimum required.

Students also complain about having lost class time in traditional disciplines and cases of content disconnected from the curriculum.

Consed, the council that brings together state education secretaries, released a note in which it criticizes the suspension of Enem’s suitability. “There is an open consultation on the reform and therefore it would be important that any decision related to the topic be taken only after the end of the consultation,” the council said in a note.

Of the 7.9 million enrollments in secondary education, 84% are in state networks.

The suspension confirmed by Camilo Santana will initially occur during the period provided for a public consultation on the subject. Launched in March, the consultation lasts 90 days, with the possibility of extension, and another 30 days for the MEC (Ministry of Education) to prepare a report that will define the future of the policy.

Changing the schedule does not cancel the reform. In practice, classes for students who are already under the new rules should not change, but schools will have the autonomy to go ahead or not with the adaptations, which have been the target of criticism and protests.

In the evaluation of members of the MEC team, suspending the schedule would remove the obligation of education networks to continue the implementation process during this time.

Camilo said this Tuesday that there should be no advances in implementation while the work of this commission that analyzes the issue lasts. On the other hand, he stated that there is no expectation that teaching networks and schools will go back on the process.

“We are suspending any progress in the implementation until this commission defines, evaluates, listening to everyone, which will be the modifications, changes or corrections that we will make in the secondary school”, he declared.

---

UNDERSTAND THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL

What is it
Policy approved in 2017, by provisional measure, during Temer (MDB), defined that part of the workload would be chosen by students so that they could deepen their knowledge in the area of ​​greatest interest

Structure
It increased the number of hours of mandatory annual classes for the stage, going from 800 to at least 1,000. Thus, the total workload of secondary education was increased by 25%, from 2,400 to 3,000 hours, as follows:

• 60% reserved for the common workload, with the regular subjects
• 40% formed by electives within five major areas of knowledge, the so-called training itineraries

Limitations
Over the three years of the stage, the time devoted to traditional disciplines cannot exceed 1,800 hours. As before, schools had 2,400 hours to distribute classes in common subjects, in practice, the ceiling reduced the time dedicated exclusively to subjects such as mathematics, Portuguese, history and geography

Definition of itineraries and disciplines
The law says that education networks are free to define which itineraries and disciplines they want to create, as long as they are within one of the five established areas of knowledge

For whom OK
All public and private schools in the country. About 7 million students were impacted by the policy, most of them (about 85%) are enrolled in schools in the state education networks

Deadlines
The law established a period of five years for education networks to prepare, following the following schedule:

• 1st year of high school in 2022
• 2nd year in 2023
• All three years of the stage until 2024

Many networks, however, began implementation earlier, such as the São Paulo state network, which started the process in 2021