A student's final mark would rest solely on coursework and classroom performance.
No rescaldo de uma pandemia que expôs as fragilidades do ensino, o Partido Ecologista Os Verdes apresentou no Parlamento português uma proposta que questiona dois pilares do sistema educativo: o tamanho das turmas e o peso dos exames nacionais. A iniciativa, que limita as turmas a vinte alunos e retira aos exames do 9.º ano qualquer efeito classificativo, convida o país a repensar se a avaliação deve medir um momento de pressão ou o percurso inteiro de um estudante. Agendada para debate em meados de março, a proposta coloca em evidência uma tensão antiga — entre a eficiência de um sistema padronizado e a humanidade de uma escola à escala de cada aluno.
- O regresso às aulas presenciais no terceiro período surge como janela de oportunidade: os Verdes querem que os novos limites de turma entrem em vigor imediatamente, sem esperar por uma reforma gradual.
- A eliminação dos exames nacionais do 9.º ano e a desvalorização dos do 12.º nos resultados finais ameaçam desestabilizar um sistema de avaliação que serve simultaneamente como medida de qualidade escolar e porta de entrada para o ensino superior.
- Turmas mais pequenas exigem mais professores e mais espaços físicos — um custo estrutural que o Estado terá de assumir num momento de pressão orçamental pós-pandemia.
- O debate parlamentar de meados de março dirá se os restantes partidos encaram a crise como catalisador de mudança ou apenas como um intervalo antes do regresso ao que sempre foi.
O Partido Ecologista Os Verdes entregou no Parlamento uma proposta que pretende alterar dois dos pilares mais enraizados do ensino em Portugal: o tamanho das turmas e o papel dos exames nacionais. O projeto quer limitar a vinte alunos todas as turmas do ensino público, privado e cooperativo com contratos de associação, desde o pré-escolar até ao secundário, com entrada em vigor logo no terceiro período, quando as escolas reabrem para aulas presenciais.
Nas mudanças à avaliação, a proposta vai mais longe. Para o 9.º ano, os exames nacionais desapareceriam por completo, substituídos pela avaliação contínua acumulada ao longo do ano. Para o 12.º ano, os exames manteriam existência, mas perderiam peso na nota final — passariam a servir exclusivamente como critério de acesso ao ensino superior, sem influência na classificação de conclusão do secundário.
Os Verdes apresentam a proposta como uma resposta à disrupção provocada pela pandemia, argumentando que o regresso às aulas é o momento certo para reconstruir a escola em bases diferentes: turmas mais pequenas, onde o professor conhece melhor cada aluno, e uma avaliação que premeia o percurso sustentado em vez do desempenho num único dia de exame.
A mudança, porém, não é gratuita. Turmas mais reduzidas implicam mais docentes e mais espaços; retirar peso aos exames nacionais elimina um dos poucos instrumentos de comparação padronizada entre escolas e regiões. O debate parlamentar marcado para meados de março revelará se existe vontade política para assumir esses custos — ou se a maioria prefere aguardar que a normalidade regresse por si mesma.
Portugal's Green Party has introduced a bill that would fundamentally reshape how the country evaluates its students, proposing to cap classroom sizes at twenty pupils and strip away the high-stakes testing that has long defined the final years of secondary education.
The proposal, delivered to Parliament by the PEV, arrives as schools prepare to reopen for in-person instruction in the third term. The party wants the new class-size limits to take effect immediately upon that return, affecting every public school, private institution, and cooperative school with state contracts across preschool through secondary education. The bill is scheduled for parliamentary debate in mid-March.
The testing changes cut deeper. For ninth-graders, the party proposes eliminating national exams entirely, replacing them with continuous assessment—the grades students accumulate through the school year rather than a single high-stakes test. For twelfth-graders, the shift is more nuanced: national exam scores would no longer factor into final grades. Instead, those exams would serve a single purpose—determining university admission. A student's final mark would rest solely on coursework and classroom performance.
The timing reflects the urgency the Greens see in the moment. Schools have been disrupted by pandemic closures; classrooms have been stretched thin. The party is arguing that now, as students return, is the moment to rebuild education around smaller, more manageable groups and assessment methods that reward sustained learning rather than performance under pressure.
The proposal touches on long-standing tensions in Portuguese education. National exams have served as both a gatekeeper to higher education and a measure of school quality. They create pressure on students, particularly in the final years of compulsory schooling. Smaller classes, in theory, allow teachers to know their students better, to differentiate instruction, to catch struggling learners before they fall behind. But both changes carry costs—smaller classes require more teachers and more classroom space; eliminating or reducing the weight of national exams removes a standardized measure of what students across the country have learned.
The bill represents the Green Party's bet that the disruption of the pandemic offers a chance to reset priorities. Rather than racing to return to normal, the proposal suggests, schools should use this moment to build something different—more humane in scale, less dependent on single tests, more attentive to the full arc of a student's learning rather than their performance on one day.
Whether Parliament agrees remains to be seen. The debate in mid-March will reveal how much appetite exists for such a shift, and whether other parties see the pandemic as a moment for reform or simply as a temporary disruption to be weathered until things return to how they were.
Citas Notables
The Greens argue that now, as students return to school, is the moment to rebuild education around smaller groups and assessment methods that reward sustained learning rather than performance under pressure.— PEV proposal rationale
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why now? Why push for smaller classes and fewer exams specifically as schools reopen?
The Greens see the reopening as a pivot point. Schools have been closed, disrupted, students have fallen behind. Rather than just cramming everyone back in and resuming the old rhythm, they're arguing: this is the moment to ask what we actually want education to do.
But doesn't eliminating the ninth-grade exam remove a safety net? How do you know if a student is actually learning?
That's the real tension. The party says continuous assessment—the grades students earn all year—tells you more about what they can actually do than a single test does. But you're right that it removes a common measure. Some schools might grade generously, others strictly. You lose that standardization.
And the twelfth-grade change—exams only for university access—that seems to say exams don't matter for most students.
Exactly. Most Portuguese students don't go to university. So the current system makes them take high-stakes tests that don't affect their final grade anyway. The Greens are saying: if the test only matters for university admission, make that explicit. Let everyone else's final grade rest on what they've actually done in class.
Smaller classes sound good in theory. But where do the teachers come from?
That's the hard part. Twenty students per class means you need more classrooms, more teachers, more resources. It's not just a policy change—it's a budget question. And that's probably why the debate in March will be contentious.
Do other countries do this?
Some do. Finland has smaller classes and no national exams at the lower levels. But every system is different. What works in one place depends on how you train teachers, how you fund schools, what parents expect. Portugal would be charting its own course.