Candidates for Biological Sciences/Health courses participated this Thursday (7) in the second and final day of the first phase of the 2021 Unicamp Entrance Exam. Of the 41.631 registrations expected today, 5.433 did not show up, totaling an abstention rate of 12,45% on this second day of tests, lower than the percentage of absentees on the first day, calculated at 15,54%. As a result, the general abstention rate for the first phase of the entrance exam is 13,80%, the highest since 2003, according to information from Comvest. Even so, the amount positively surprised the exam organization, which expected a higher fee.
"This rate (13,80%) is not very different from the general average, which is around 9%. We had an expectation that abstention would reach around 20%, considering everything that involves the preparation scenario for a test in a context like this. We are highly satisfied with the participation of students and with this number we had today", observes José Alves de Freitas Neto, director of Comvest.
The second day of tests also had the only medical incident recorded in the entire first phase. The case was observed at the Pandiá Calógeras State School, in Belo Horizonte (MG). According to Comvest, in compliance with the health protocols of the capital of Minas Gerais, all candidates underwent a temperature check at the entrance to the school and one of the students presented a temperature of 37,4°C, within the range of suspicion of Covid- 19. The candidate was taken to a separate room from the others and received telemedicine care. Due to his body temperature and other symptoms, such as coughing, the entrance exam organization and the candidate himself understood that he would not be able to take the exam. He was instructed to seek a medical service to undergo a test to detect the coronavirus and had no contact with the other candidates at school.
Pandemic and appreciation of science fell to the test
Like other contemporary themes, the coronavirus pandemic was also a subject discussed in the first phase of the 2021 Entrance Exam. "We had questions dealing with the pandemic, but always with the perspective that it is part of this current context in which students live and in which the University is part of this society, as is the case with other topics", explains Márcia Rodrigues Mendonça, academic coordinator at Comvest. It also highlights the approach to valuing science in an issue in which candidates should imagine themselves as scientists and evaluate data that supported research and others that could call it into question. According to Márcia, this is a concern of the University that was reflected in the tests.
"Not only chemical knowledge was worked on, but also scientific practice, in the figure of the scientist who reviews his work and is able to correct paths for a more socially reliable result. We, as a University, would like to go public and say this through a question that mobilized school knowledge of Chemistry", he details.
The results of the first phase of the entrance exam will be released on January 29th and the second phase tests are scheduled for February 7th and 8th. José Alves Neto comments that, after the implementation of the first phase, there will be meetings to evaluate what can be improved for the second phase and ensure that all safety protocols will be maintained. He also explains that Comvest must also evaluate what changes made to this edition of the exam can bring improvements for the future, but guarantees that the experience was a great learning experience for the University.
"We seek to recognize the value of science, to say that it is possible to take a test with more basic content, having a dimension of demand necessary to enter a university. It is not a difficult test, or a super difficult one, that attests to the quality of a process of selection. Also for us at Comvest, this entrance exam is a learning experience", says José Alves Neto.
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Unicamp successfully carries out tests on the first day of the 2021 Entrance Exam
