The end of the national exams, the revision of the assessment test regime and the introduction of continuous assessment are the three main themes of a draft resolution that the parliamentary group of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) will present to the Assembly of the Republic this Thursday.
With the aim of ending inequalities and taking into account the “situation of each learner in relation to the knowledge acquired, with a view to drawing up consolidation and recovery strategies adapted to the needs of all”, the project designed by the communist party for national schools “the improvement of the teaching-learning process” and “the effective inclusion of all students”.
In the document accessed by DN, the PCP insists on appreciation for continuous evaluation, which, however, requires “a public investment policy, socio-occupational appreciation of its professionals, the creation of conditions for stability and predictability in the organization and development of work” . , which is “contrary to those imposed by successive governments”.
This is because, according to the party, the devaluation of continuous assessment is one of the reasons that generates an “elitist perspective of access to knowledge and culture”, which promotes private education.
To improve the current education system, the PCP believes that the abolition of the 9th, 11th and 12th year national exams would be beneficial, similar to what happened with the 4th and 6th year exams.
According to the draft resolution, the exams are “a mechanism to exacerbate socio-economic asymmetries and total disrespect for the work of students and teachers, in addition to denying what the role of the school should be: contributing to the integrality and development of the individual “.
In addition, these compulsory tests show a “lack of fairness” as “the per-examination method of assessment has proven to be ineffective and perverse as it requires supervised study, not to reinforce knowledge, but to ensure success” in the test.
As for the assessment tests, applied to 2nd, 5th and 8th grades (which take place this year in digital format), they should be revised, in the sense of “meeting the purpose appropriate to their nature of the diagnosis”, rather than of which of “imitate the model of exams”. Incidentally, the PCP also mentions that 2nd year children do not have “enough emotional structure” to deal with “situations of unnecessary stress and anxiety” caused by the assessment.
Source: DN
