JNE/EduQA Press Release

Following the statement from JNE/EduQA, published last Thursday, 25 June, regarding the marking process for national examinations - which highlighted some constraints in the schedule - and considering issues that have since come to the attention of the JNE services, EduQA, through the National Examination Board, provides the following clarifications:

1. The process of preparing the examinations for digital marking is currently in the recovery phase, following some technical difficulties, and the restoration of its normal operation is already underway;
2. Given that the classification schedule was designed to accommodate potential contingencies, the JNE (National Examinations Board) had the opportunity to make adjustments to the timeline of this process;
   
3. In this regard, starting next Monday, 29 June, the JNE (National Examination Board) will gradually begin distributing responses to the teachers marking examinations as they are processed, ensuring that each examination code has a marking period equivalent to the usual one - typically ten working days - while maintaining the final marking deadline on 10 July;
   
4. Schools and teachers summoned for the marking process should calmly await further information regarding the availability of the responses;
   
5. Regarding news reports alleging potential errors in the process of selecting teachers marking examinations, it is important to clarify that this procedure has been carried out in a stable manner for several years through the ENES programme. The process begins with a request to schools to indicate the teachers who teach the different subjects, who are then classified according to priority levels, specifically based on whether they are teaching the final year of the subject in the current school year (priority A), among other criteria;
   
6. It is also the responsibility of schools to indicate the specific conditions of each teacher - namely the exercise of management functions or other incompatibilities with the function of classifier - ensuring that the JNE (National Examination Board) clusters have accurate information on the availability of teachers. It is also the responsibility of schools to communicate other relevant situations, such as sick leave, as well as to remove retired teachers from the lists;
7. Therefore, the quality of the information provided by schools is crucial for the correct preparation of the convocations. It should be noted that, annually, the JNE (National Examination Board) identifies some discrepancies in these lists, which are corrected immediately, in close coordination with the schools;
8. Finally, the JNE/EduQA reiterates that, notwithstanding the natural constraints of an innovative process - implemented for the first time in the education system and of high logistical and technological complexity - it will fulfil its fundamental mission: to ensure the carrying out of external assessment tests and the dissemination of their results within the defined deadlines, with rigor, quality and serenity.