A Brazilian judge has ruled that the results of the country’s university entrance exam be annulled because of security issues and problems with some test papers. The Education Ministry will appeal the decision, but it could mean that millions of students will have to retake the test, throwing Brazil’s school year into potential chaos. An estimated 2,000 or so papers administered this month were printed with errors that confused students. Reports that some students were allowed into exam rooms with pencils and watches, both of which were forbidden by law, were further evidence of lax security, the judge said. The problems are just the latest in a tumultuous two years since the test was revamped to democratize entry into Brazil’s publicly financed universities.
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2 Responses to Brazilian Judge Orders Results of University Entrance Exam Annulled
bampo - March 21, 2011 at 10:15 pm
What Francisco says is correct, but only in part. Of course, scholars should be engaging with “community” outside of the academy. As I see it there are two problems with his argument. First, tackling border issues in any kind of transformative way requires going well beyond the capacity of public policy in its current iteration, and the communities that the public policy tack implies rarely, if ever, enjoy a seat at the rule-making table–they never will. In this case, “policy” comes heavily laden with all manner of conservative/moral assumptions about what borders should do, how they should function, who they should let in/keep out. Those whose entrance is blocked have no voice here. Second, the “ivory tower” metaphor is only useful in a very narrow conception of what academics do, who they are, and where they come from. Many, many scholars have deep commitments with–loyalties to–those communities at whom the most restrictive border policies are directed. “The border”–like the “war on drugs”–is also a theater, one whose polite-society audience cannot contemplate the idea of general admission…yet sorely needs it.
ArturoSaltillo - March 26, 2011 at 12:49 am
Esa “Torre de Marfil” que Francisco menciona, ha existido prácticamente desde que La Academia, como representante del sector universitario, se convirtió en una élite de alto nivel, donde el mundo real se convirtió en una sociedad de segunda clase. Esa tradición se ha prolongado muchos años. Actualmente la Academia tiende a ver al mundo real. Y más ahora que la situación social está tan dañada por descomposición generalizada de la nación. Es obligación acometer la reconstrucción de la sociedad con la contribución decidida y abierta de la academia.