President presses government to end national exam chaos

Portuguese President António José Seguro has increased pressure on the government today to resolve the ongoing disruption to the country’s national secondary school examinations – warning that public confidence in the assessment system cannot be allowed to erode.

Speaking during a visit to the new headquarters of Portugal’s National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MENAC) in Lisbon, Seguro said he would discuss the exam crisis with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro later this week – including whether families should be compensated if delays cause financial losses.

“I am following the issue of the national examinations, as is my duty, and my wish is that everything can be resolved as quickly as possible,” President Seguro told reporters.

“The essential thing is that the relationship of trust between students, families and the assessment system remains intact,” he said, repeating this message twice during the visit.

It is the same message that parents have given in the petition that has now raised over 8,300 signatures – and that teachers have been giving since this crisis began.

Also today, teachers federation FENPROF has reiterated calls for the education minister to ‘step down’, particularly considering his first reactions were to blame the schools, and even claim ‘fake news’…

Focus on protecting students

The president stressed that every examination must be marked correctly, that no student should be disadvantaged, and that delays must not become so severe that they affect university admissions and/ or disrupt holidays already booked by families.

Asked whether the government has assured him that all papers will be corrected properly and that no students risk having scripts misplaced or incorrectly marked, Seguro referred to recent statements by Education Minister Fernando Alexandre.

“That was the meaning of the minister’s statements,” he said.

Portugal’s exam marking process has been hit by repeated technical failures since the introduction of a new digital correction system this year. Problems involving the scanning, distribution and electronic allocation of exam papers have already forced delays to the publication of results and the timetable for the second examination session.

Compensation to be discussed with Prime Minister

President Seguro confirmed he intends to raise the issue of possible compensation for families whose holiday plans have been, or are affected if the revised exam timetable slips further.

The matter is expected to be discussed at his regular weekly meeting with Montenegro. The meeting, usually held on Tuesdays, has been delayed because the Prime Minister is attending the NATO summit in Ankara and is due to return to Portugal late today.

A meeting is now expected later in the week.

Name of private company involved in digitalisation finally revealed

In a swingeing column, detailing this almost Kafkaesque saga, Expresso columnist Ângela Silva says the name of the private company involved in the digitalisation fracas has finally been revealed. Its name is Blat (Creative Powerhouse), she explains. The company was first contracted, with no recourse to public tender, back in 2017.

According to Silva, Blat “ only yesterday removed from its website the list of clients that included the PS (socialists) and the PSD (ruling social democrats)”.

This saga has still got a lot of mileage left to run…

Source material: Expresso