Lula says Enem represents 'war for education' and highlights participation of elderly people
President visited Inep's monitoring room in Brasília and commented on exam registration data
Quick Look
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that Enem 2026 represents a 'war for education' during a visit to the Inep monitoring room in Brasília.
- More than 5 million people are registered, with 13,821 participants over 60 years old.
- The tests take place on the 8th and 15th of November.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Enem 2026 will be administered on November 8th and 15th across the country. This year, 5,055,818 people had their registrations confirmed and are eligible to take the exam. The number is the highest since 2020, when almost 5.8 million people had signed up. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the exam did not take place that year and there was a sharp drop in the number of registrants the following year.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Sunday that the National High School Exam (Enem), carried out with the support of thousands of professionals and with more than five million registered, represents a "war for education". He also highlighted the participation of elderly people in the tests.
The speech took place after visiting the monitoring room at the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep) in Brasília, where technicians from the Ministry of Education, responsible for applying Enem, monitor the logistical processes throughout Brazil.
"I keep imagining people who go to war and take thousands of young people to die. In other words, I put the young man on the plane, on the train and say he's going to fight and there's no certainty that this young man will come back alive. We here are waging a war against regression. We're waging a war for education, a war that means peace, a war that means involving six hundred thousand soldiers helping us to guarantee fairness", stated Lula.
According to him, the significant participation of elderly people in Enem deserves to be highlighted.
"One thing that caught my attention is 13,900 people over 60. It's the largest number of people of a certain age," added the president.
According to official data:
Participants aged 17 form the largest group, with 1,292,082 confirmed registrations, followed by 18-year-olds, who total 1,269,907.
The panel also records 691,633 participants aged up to 16, 463,720 aged 19 and 235,457 aged 20.
In the 21 to 30 age group, there are 725,118 registered; between 31 and 59 years old, 359,607.
Participants over 60 years old total 13,821.
Enem 2026 will be administered on November 8th and 15th across the country. This year, 5,055,818 people had their registrations confirmed and are eligible to take the exam.
The number is the highest since 2020, when almost 5.8 million people had signed up. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the exam did not take place that year and there was a sharp drop in the number of registrants the following year.
This Sunday (8), the test consists of 90 objective questions (divided between Languages and Human Sciences) and an essay. Next Sunday (16), there will be another 90 questions (Mathematics and Natural Sciences).
Open Questions
- What are the expected results of Enem 2026?
- What specific measures is Inep adopting to ensure the fairness of the exam?
