Portugal's education minister faces calls for inquiry after contradictory statements on exam digitalization pilot

Contradictory accounts from the government

On 21 July, during a parliamentary hearing, Education Minister Fernando Alexandre stated that "the Government has no report" on the 2025 pilot project for digital grading of Philosophy and Mathematics exams, and accused former JNE president Luís Duque de Almeida of never delivering one. Hours later, Secretary of State for Education Alexandre Homem Cristo clarified that while no formal report existed, the services had received written information. The following day, in an RTP interview, the minister himself acknowledged that written information was available, contradicting his earlier denial. This sequence has fueled accusations of inconsistency from opposition parties.

We were confronted with the hearings of 21 July, where, surprisingly, the education minister told us that, after all, there was no report on the pilot project, only for the secretary of state to come and correct him and say there was written information. These are completely contradictory statements.

A pilot project with known failures

The pilot was conducted in 2025 for Philosophy and Mathematics exams. According to Fabian Figueiredo of the Left Bloc, "practically all the errors that occurred this year had already been identified in the pilot project." The JNE reported that more than 5,300 grades had been altered during the 2026 exam cycle, raising questions about the reliability of the digital grading system. The opposition argues that the decision to extend digital grading to all exams this year was taken without a proper evaluation of the pilot. The Liberal Initiative has repeatedly asked why the government opted for a full rollout rather than a phased approach for some 11th-grade exams, and whether access to EU Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) funds influenced the decision.

It would be strange if the Government had no report. How does a pilot project run and then you decide to roll it out?

Opposition demands documents and hearings

On 23 July, the Left Bloc, Liberal Initiative, and Livre each submitted requests for all written information related to the pilot, including reports, technical notes, emails, and meeting minutes. The Liberal Initiative also called for urgent hearings of current JNE president Rui Pires and his predecessor Luís Duque de Almeida to clarify what information was transmitted to the ministry. The party stressed that any reform must be well-planned to avoid errors that "serve as fuel for those who do not want to reform anything." Livre's request specifically demands "a full copy of all existing written information on the Philosophy pilot test, including reports, technical notes, meeting notes, telephone conversation notes, emails, presentations, opinions, minutes or any other documents, regardless of their formal designation."

Yesterday the minister gave a long interview saying he had heard the entities and that, based on considerations from EduQA and the JNE, he had indications that this project could go ahead and that there was written information. So, what is it? Was there written information? Is there no report? Is there no diagnosis of the pilot project?

Calls for a parliamentary inquiry

Fabian Figueiredo went further, arguing that a parliamentary inquiry committee is necessary to "ascertain all political decisions." The Left Bloc deputy noted that the secretary of state had requested data and reports on the pilot, which were subsequently sent to the ministry, contradicting the minister's initial claim of no documentation. The controversy has eroded trust in the national exam system, with the Liberal Initiative stating the need to "restore confidence in the evaluation mechanism." The party also wants to examine all correspondence between the government, the IAVE (Institute for Educational Assessment), and the JNE regarding the pilot and the decision to generalize digital grading.