08/18/2024 – 19:51
The writing test for the Unified National Contest (CNU), the “Enem dos Concursos”, had as its theme “To what extent can education and scientific and technological progress contribute to reducing socioeconomic inequalities and expanding the development of Brazilian society?”.
What was required in the CNU draft?
The CNU exams were applied this Sunday, the 18th, throughout Brazil, but the essay was only written by candidates in block 8, aimed at intermediate and technical levels.
The essay test, which is eliminatory in nature, is worth 100 points. Questions such as deviating from the argumentative-discursive text type, deviating from the topic and writing in pencil may result in a zero score on the test, according to the notice.
For experts consulted by Statethe choice of theme was not surprising. Since a dissertative-argumentative text was required, the expectation was that the test would follow the already known format of Enem essays, which usually address social issues and evaluate the role of the State in solving problems.
Challenges of the theme: the need to address multiple axes
Even so, says Joana Melo, a Portuguese language teacher, the content may have challenged the candidates.
This is because, says the expert, the essay theme is articulated around different axes – education, scientific and technological progress, economic inequality and social development – requiring the candidate to address all of them in a comprehensive manner, without focusing on problems, but rather on a solution.
“This is something that can be challenging for candidates (…) There are many things that they would have to address,” says Joana. “Often, candidates do not pay attention to all the axes, and then they will address part of the problem or part of the solution, part of the topic. And this affects the grade.”
This point of view is shared by Pedro Lima, a grammar, writing and text interpretation teacher, who argues that the requirement for different axes can lead to the topic being sidetracked. For the expert, the essay required by the CNU was not difficult, but “specific”.
“The candidate may end up focusing too much or only on education, or only on scientific and technological progress, talking only about socioeconomic inequalities, and not establishing a relationship between these three things, in favor of reducing socioeconomic inequality”, he summarizes.
The topicality of the topic and the possibilities of approach
Ceres Rabelo, a teacher of preparatory courses for public exams, praised the topic’s relevance. “When we talk about education, technological and scientific progress, we are talking about the present day,” she said. For the expert, the subject requires a repertoire, but allows candidates to explore different paths.
“Technology, for example, makes it possible to democratize access to information, allowing people from different economic backgrounds to train and compete in an increasingly demanding job market,” he says.
Access to education and information is another example mentioned by Lima. “Candidates could, for example, talk about the issue of access to education, and the quality of access at all levels, thinking about social strata,” he says.
“We could think about investing in scientific research so that there would be technological development and, consequently, this would have an impact on education.”
The essay question format and its challenges
Experts also draw attention to the format of the presentation of the topic, a question. “They (the candidates) have to answer, but not as if they were answering a question,” Joana points out, who believes that the writing could cause problems for less prepared candidates.
“I think that the essay will really be a big challenge, even though everyone knew that it would be a dissertative-argumentative text, with a social slant”, he concludes.
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