Category Archives: Gov’t & Economy

Enem vs. Vestibular

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The vestibular is one of the selection methods utilized by institutions of higher education in Brazil. The Enem, on the other hand, is the High School National Exam (Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio), which was created by the Ministry of Education to evaluate the knowledge of students who either are finishing high school or who have just finished. The Enem started out merely as a way for the government to rank high schools nationally based on which school had the overall brightest students, but its purpose in recent years was expanded to act as an alternative to the vestibular. The reason for the expansion was to level the playing field for lower-income students who couldn’t afford both the price of the expensive vestibular prep courses, called cursinhos, as well as the cost of taking the actual test (one for each university the student applies to). The vestibular registration costs generally range from R$70-90 each, which can easily add up to R$500-R$1000 per student, depending on how many universities they are applying for. The ‘cursinho’ costs anywhere from R$60-R$300 or more. The Enem, however, costs on average about R$40, though I’m unsure if there are prep courses for it.

From what I can gather, both require the answering of questions (multiple choice and short answer) and essays (called redação in Portuguese). More specifically, the Enem is composed of an essay and “180 multiple-choice questions, equally divided into four areas of knowledge: languages; human sciences; natural sciences and mathematics. Due to the size of the test, it is applied in two consecutive days” (Wikipedia), one lasting for 4 hours and 30 minutes, and the other lasting for 5 hours and 30 minutes. As for the vestibular, “several Brazilian universities follow the FUVEST (University of São Paulo’s entry exam) pattern, which is divided into two stages or “phases”. The first stage consists of around 80 multiple choice questions, including subjects such as Portuguese Language, Portuguese and Brazilian Literature, Math, History, Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Foreign Language. The best scoring candidates from the multiple-choice stage proceed to the second stage, which contains write-in questions about subjects related to the candidate’s major (Wikipedia)”. More on some other differences later on.

In recent years, institutions have used the Enem score in substitution of the vestibular, thus, if a candidate has a certain score on the Enem, his or her acceptance (into a specific university) is practically guaranteed – it only depends on the availability of the vacancies and on the other candidate’s scores. As a compliment to the Enem, the federal government last year created the SiSu – System of Unified Selection (Sistema de Seleção Unificado), which is exactly that, a new system of selection. Using the score from the Enem, one can apply for a vacancy at any one of 59 federal universities. So, depending on where a student intends to study, the Enem is fundamental.

As I’ve neither taken the Enem nor the vestibular, I can only relay information via second parties (sites that specialize in such tests and opinions of those who have taken them). One student summed the differences up by saying the vestibular is a test of knowledge you “should” have (or can attain), while the Enem is about testing to see what knowledge you have (attained). In other words, the vestibular is about memorization while the Enem is about using your logic and about interpreting texts. While in Brazil, I saw a list of the kinds of subjects students study when preparing for the vestibular and let me just say it’s no walk in the park.

Problems w/ the Enem

In 2009, the Enem was somehow made available on the black market, which made the MEC (Ministry of Education) push the test forward two months from October to December so they could redo the test. A few months ago, detailed personal information on students who took the exam in previous years was leaked on the Internet. Then, this month the actual template used for the test contained errors and thus it was suspended again.

Thanks to Fábio for suggesting the topic.

Related Info

Affirmative action in Brazilian universities

4 Brazilian Airports Have Body Scanners

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This is from back in July but still relevant as a topic of interest, though I can’t find further news items that are more recent.

“Four Brazilian airports are going to adopt, starting this month, the controversial body scanning machines. Passengers that embark on international flights in Cumbica, in Guarulhos (SP), Galeão, in Rio and in Recife and Manaus may be selected to go through the device. The objective being to stop the entrance of guns, explosives or drugs.

The superindentant of the PF in Rio, Ângelo Gioia, said the technique can be considered invasive, “but within the limit”. Legislation permits a body search when there are founded suspicions of illicit activity. This technique will be less invasive than others already in place, though compelling”, he said. “There are no excesses when it comes to security”. – Veja

My Take

First off, I’m not risking the body scanners as they may give off way more radiation than a typical x-ray. Second, I don’t care to have a revealing scanned body image saved on some gov’t database. Third, there actually are excesses when it comes to security, like intruding on my right to privacy and freedom. Fourth, the alternative is…being groped? This Wednesday is National Opt-Out Day for TSA Screenings. Join in if you’re flying.

In the meantime, let’s all party like it’s 1984…

TSA 2

Land Grants Become Land Bomb for Dilma

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“Tomorrow, President Lula will officially deliver land rights to the residents of the Ivaporunduva community, a quilombola (Maroon community) in Eldorado Paulista, in inland São Paulo. The event will have a festive tone, despite the controversy and increasing tensions involving the borders of Maroon communities – one of the thorny issues of social liability that will be left to Rousseff.

The land title to be delivered, in a symbolic fashion, yet in force since May, covers an area of 6,670 acres, where 70 families live in a very traditional community, whose origins date back to the 17th century. It’s a small part of a large problem: it’s part of group of 113 titled quilombolas, within a total of 3,524 identified communities, according to data fro the Secretary of Racial Equality – all of them interested in titles.

According to the estimate by the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, if all of the identified communities were attended to, the government would have to give land titles to over 21,000,000 acres – the equivalent of almost twice the state of Rio de Janeiro. It’s a conservative estimate, based on the average number of titles that have already been expedited, totaling over 2,400,000 acres, benefiting 11,506 families.

In the calculation, exceptional cases were excluded, including large pieces of granted land in Pará and the Quilombo Kalunga, in the hinterland of Goiás – the largest ever settled. They make up 6,251,000 acres, belonging to 600 families.” – Exame (in PT)

Price Comparison – Milk

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As a follow-up to my Kia Sportage price comparison, I naturally decided…milk should be next.

Brazilian Milk
1 liter – 33 ounces
Low Cost – R$1.95 (US$1.13) DALIA
High Cost – R$5.06 (US$2.95) CAPPRY’S
Price for a Gallon – Between US$4.52 – US$11.80
Source: Pão de Açúcar

American Milk
1 gallon – 128 ounces
Low Cost – US$3.29 (R$5.64) Safeway
High Cost – US$6.59 (R$11.30) Horizon
Price for a Liter – Between R$1.41 – R$2.82
Source: Safeway

Four liters of Brazilian milk basically equals 1 gallon of American milk in quantity. ‘Price for a liter’ (or gallon) based on calculations. I can only assume Brazilian milk has the added benefit of lasting longer (at least while shelved) than American milk, which has to be refrigerated immediately. Also important to note that Pão de Açúcar may not be equal to Safeway in quality or prices. Perhaps Whole Foods prices would be a better comparison? Either way, I don’t see the final tally fluxuating to any significant degree.

Merry Christmas Mr. President

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“About two weeks back, Correios delivered a box to the Presidental Palace containing a present for President Lula and another, identical, for his wife Marisa Letícia. Upon opening the packages, the employees of the Historic Documentation Directory, responsible for the identification of everything that involves the Presidency, technically acted, as usual, even though the objects called attention to the unusual: two cake mixers.

These are small examples of the gifts received by Lula and his wife since January of 2003, when the couple moved to Brasília. When he leaves office, on January 1st, he will have to take everything that he received over the last eight years: from valuable objects to small souvenirs. In the beginning, the objects must be taken to a depository. The intention is to create an institute, just as the ex-president, Fernando Henrique, did.

By last Friday, excluding all the correspondence and electronic messages that totaled 642,977 texts, there were 760,440 objects, among them were presents, audiovisual archives (including paintings, photos and films) and books – material that can fill 11 trucks.” – O Globo (in PT, more here)

Reminds me slightly of another story from 1994 about a certain 17 tons of gifts that ‘slipped through’ customs.

If Tiririca Is ‘Grumpy’, His Constituents Are ‘Sleepy’

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Apparently, the Tiririca saga has not ended. The story went from an illiterate citizen who was elected to Congress to now being a possibly literate citizen being elected to Congress. One way to look at it is via the threshold between being worthy of elected office and not being worthy and the way this is being measured in this particular case is on the basis of literacy, or lack thereof. The inevitable conclusion, in its simplest form, is that being able to read is equal to belonging to the branch of government that is charged with such powers as making laws. This kind of thinking naturally leads to the question of who should be entrusted with the making of legislation, be it a politician or someone ‘of the people’.

More Info

Tiricia soube ler e escrever

US Embassies On Interviewing Spree

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“The US Embassy in Brasília is trying to attend to all the applicants that wish to be interviewed for a visa. Today, November 2nd, is the second day in the last two weeks they have set aside for such interviews. Additional interview times have been slated during regular hours, too.

Scheduling for today’s interviews started on the 25th of October. In all, 1,500 openings were made, 900 of which are for those wishing to renew their expired visa, as long as it expired within the last year. Six-hundred openings are available for first-timers. The Brazilian demand for tourist visas to the US are growing. In all of Brazil, the American consulates interviewed 22% more people until now this year than in the same period last year. According to the embassy, close to 95% of all Brazilian solicitations receive a visa to travel to the US. Most visas are B1/B2, which permit business travel and tourism, with a validity of 10 years.

The US Consulate General in São Paulo already handed out 260,122 visas in 2010, surpassing by 1,047 the 259,075 visas handed out in all 12 months of 2009. The São Paulo consulate is where the highest number of US visas are handed out, ahead of Bogotá, Pekim, Mexico City and New Dehli. Around 1,500 to 2,000 people are attended to each day in Brazil’s biggest city. Last Friday, the consulate broke records for interviews given in one day, with 2,123 people being attended to. Accordingly, the number of visas given out, a mere 2,029, was also a record.” – Folha (in PT)

My Take

With the currency more equal than not, it’s no surprise that more Brazilians are traveling. Interesting to note that I have friends who have traveled frequently to Europe, always coming back and never overstaying, and they are denied visas to the US. Even just to get a foot in the door at a US embassy or consulate in Brazil takes 90 days from what I hear. If Brazil is going to mimic the fees that Brazilians are charged to come to the US, then Brazil should make it easy to be interviewed with the same ease that I can be interviewed in the Brazilian consulate here (and let’s face it, within one week, being American, I can get a visa to just about any country. What’s fair about that?).

I have a bit of a ‘beef’ with the American Embassy in Brasília as they didn’t let me in! I went with my then-girlfriend and her friend, who wanted a visa and while we were outside, I tried to enter as well and I was told to wait until someone from inside gives the OK. Three hours later after waiting on the curb outside the gates, I was given an answer. “So sorry, if you are staying in São Paulo for most of your vacation, go to the São Paulo consulate”.  That was hilarious…ok, not at the time. At the time it was purely nonsensical.

The “Buy Brazil Act”

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I was skimming an article at Latin Business Chronicle and I saw something called the “Buy Brazil Act” mentioned which seems noteworthy for the business-minded. Towards the end of the article titled “Brazil: Why Executives Should Care Who Wins”, I found the following…

“With recent legislation such as the “Buy Brazil Act” (Provisional Measure (PM) Nr. 495), the government is mandating preference for Brazilian firms or goods produced in Brazil in government procurement. According to Marcus Freitas, Frontier Strategy Group Expert Advisor and Professor of Law and International Relations at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in São Paulo, “According to the new law, preference shall always be given to products: a) made in Brazil; b) made or provided by Brazilian corporations, and c) made or provided by corporations that have invested in research and technology development in Brazil… The Federal Administration expects foreign companies interested in the Brazilian public procurement market to establish a presence and invest directly in the country.””

More Info

Latin Business Chronicle
Planalto.gov (in PT)
Changes to the Public Biddings Regulation

Big Brother Brasil – All Cars To Be Tracked

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The following article seems to have been written by a non-native English speaker, nonetheless, the real BBB is coming. Note: No one involved in the BBB story will be in the next edition of Playboy.

“Brazilian population will be forced very soon to have in their cars identification chips (RFID), besides GPS locators and blockers. According to several news, the brazilian government hurries to show until november of 2010 the GPS tracker that will be legally required to be in all new cars from February of 2011.

It is unclear how this will work but in this article of the Folha de Sao Paulo says the Denatran (Transit National Department) will oversee the center, and that it will be operated by Serpro (organ of government for data processing). This means that the brazilian government can access the location of any car registered in any country!

The article in the Folha de Sao Paulo also says:

To circumvent the criticisms of those who claim lack of privacy, which has led the discussion to the judicial arena, the Minister Marcio Fortes says there will be two options: the tracker and blocker. This will make the car stop in a given situation, for example if the thief stops at traffic lights, and will be mandatory. In the other hand, the GPS tracker will be contracted or not by the user.

The implications of this? Imagine this in the hands of a corrupt and totalitarian government, which decides to label as terrorists those who disagree with its actions? Brazilian should unite and reject this law, modeled on the American war on terror, using security as pretext for the removal of our freedoms and privacy.” – Source (where sources to write the story can also be found)

Brazilian Population to Peak at 206 Million

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“The Brazilian population will reach its peak at 206.8 million people in 2030, falling to 204.7 million people 10 years later. The prediction comes from the Institute for Advanced Economic Research (Ipea), with a database from the last National Study via the Sample of Domiciles (PNAD).

According to the Ipea, the tendency of the Brazilian population is to reach “over aging” in 20 years, like other countries in Europe and Japan. The reason for this is the link between reduced mortality and a decline in fertility that occurs in the country since the 1960s.

The Ipea also says that the family unit composed of a married couple with kids is still predominant in Brazil, however it is decreasing. In 2009, such a configuration represented 49.9% of families, against 62.8% in 1992. The increase in women’s contribution to the family income went from 30.1% in 1992 to 40.9% in 2009, according to the study. At the same time, the proportion of female spouses that contribute to the family income went from 39.1% to 65.8% in this timeframe.” – Source (in PT, translated)