THE - Times Higher Education has published its list of the 100 best reputed universities around the world. Brazil is out of it. USP - University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo) is today in the main national newspapers to face enquiries about the percent of students that, having passed its selection process, did not turn up and thus gave up a place as undergraduates at the university once considered everyone's first choice. Average such percentage was said to be 25, but it reached 50 percent in our research - still partial - when careers are considered isolately.
Most worrying are serious suspicions that have just emerged about the transparence and accuracy of the very selection process to enter USP.
On the beginning of the month, we asked FUVEST - the institution that carries out the selection for USP undergraduate programs - to give us access to the full list of names with grades in order of classification. No answer came till now.
Upon request, FUVEST had informed us the grade in the writing exam of a certain candidate, and it was not in line with the rules. The guide for the exams says the maximum points for the writing exam is 50, and the grade given was 42 out of 80. FUVEST silenced when questioned about this mismatch.
There are other procedures not made clear by FUVEST, while also making the comparison of candidates' performance a puzzle. To begin with, bear in mind that each candidate can run for up to four options of course-period (e.g. physics-daytime and physics-evening would make two different options). Then be aware that several such combinations - can be more than four - are grouped by FUVEST under a single "career". Under this intricate arrangement, candidates compete with others of different options.
FUVEST has declared by email that "it would consider our comments in the next selection". We had also asked where the criteria for the allocation of candidates, in view of those preferences each of them can make, are stated. No answer was given.
We stress that candidates, formally, can have access to their own performance only. Of course, if a candidate knows someone else that is also taking the exams, it is easy to exchange and compare grades. But a candidate does not have access through FUVEST to the performance of others. And, again, since each candidate ends up competing with a much bigger number of candidates due to the peculiar FUVEST scheme of defining "careers" for the contest, which is further entangled by the combination of options picked by each candidate and later processed in a way FUVEST keeps it secret, it can be said the devil must be laughing. Once again.
A series of scandals have recently ruined the reputation of ENEM - the high education national exam.
We insisted on our pending queries with FUVEST today.
FUVEST:
http://www.fuvest.br/index.html
THE:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/
