PM’s exam intervention elicits outrage

Portugal’s prime minister has drawn a sharp rebuke from the country’s association of public school directors after suggesting that “some teachers” have been resisting changes to the digital correction of national exams  – and this is what all the ‘fuss’ (in the words of his parliamentary leader) has been about.

Luís Montenegro’s criticism follows weeks of disruption to this year’s secondary school examination marking process, which has been plagued by technical failures linked to the new digital correction system.

Filinto Lima, president of the National Association of Directors of Public School Clusters and Schools (ANDAEP), described the PM’s remarks as “incomprehensible” – arguing that responsibility for the problems lies with the digital platform rather than the teachers using it.

“The teachers who are marking exams, and school directors, have always been part of the solution,” Lima told SIC Notícias. “We simply do not understand the prime minister’s words. What was needed was recognition for those working every day in our schools. We should not have had to hear those statements.”

Montenegro acknowledged in televised comments that there had been technical problems with the exam marking process but argued that such difficulties were inevitable during a period of change.

“Unfortunately, during any process of change there are always unforeseen events and technical difficulties,” he said. “There are also always attempts to exploit the situation, almost wishing for things to go wrong.”

The prime minister nevertheless praised the professionalism of teachers correcting the exams, and insisted he retained full confidence in Education Minister Fernando Alexandre.

“The ministers, the secretaries of state and the prime minister are in government to solve problems,” Montenegro said. “They are not there to complain about problems or lose heart when they arise.”

However, Lima said the prime minister’s suggestion that some teachers were resisting the new digital marking system unfairly shifted attention away from what he sees as the real cause of the disruption.

“The problem is clear. It is the platform and the digitalisation process, not the teachers,” he said.

The government has already extended the deadline for completing exam marking until Wednesday, a move Lima said should not have been necessary but may reflect efforts to guarantee the quality of the grading process.

“We have to remain hopeful, but at the moment we’re like Saint Thomas—we have to see it to believe it,” he said, warning that the difficulties experienced during the marking process are likely to trigger a significant increase in requests for exam reviews, creating additional work for both schools and teachers.

“It will mean more work for schools and more work for the teachers marking the exams. They have been heroes throughout this process—heroes whom nobody has applauded.”

Lima also revealed that school directors have still not received guidance on the new platform that will allow schools to manually upload student and parent information so pupils can view their corrected exams online.

The latest exchange adds to mounting political pressure over the troubled rollout of Portugal’s first large-scale digital marking system for upper secondary national exams, which has suffered repeated technical failures, security concerns and deadline extensions since the correction process began. The country’s Ombudsman has confirmed that complaints about the exams are being received, while teachers’ federation FENPROF has said it means to lodge a lawsuit.

The issue is expected to figure prominently in today’s State of the Nation debate – despite the government being at pains to insist this has all been a monumental fuss over very little (fanned by ulterior motives).

Source material: SIC Notícias