Later, the results of the popular consultation decided for the third option of date, among the three offered. It was May 2nd and 9th of 2021 the printed version, and May 16th and 23rd of 2021 the digital version. However, INEP decided for the dates of January 17th and 24th for the printed version, and February 31st and 7th for the digital one. They argued that the date was chosen taking into consideration the opinion of many Universities, students and organizations, and it was the best option for the situation. They added that students who eventually became ill with contagious diseases could ask to reapply for the test. Also, with the digital version being introduced in the exam, they expected to have a lower rate of students, because the amount of people would be divided in more days. The digital version of ENEM was designed to substitute the original version and reduce costs with prints. The first edition brought the same content, but with different questions. Also, the famous “redação” is still handwritten.

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Many decisions had been made, but the problems were far from the end. The deaths by covid-19 only increased throughout 2020, and the new date was near. Then, the CONASS (Conselho Nacional de Secretarias de Saúde) joined the groups that asked for a new postpone for ENEM. New requests have been made by scientific entities, as they were concerned about bringing together a large number of students to take ENEM, in the period that seemed to be the worst of the pandemic so far. These new requests got denied by Federal Justice from São Paulo. According to them, a new postpone for the exam could harm the process of entrance in all universities. Also, in case of an increase in the risk of contagion and a possible lockdown, each state government should decide about the suspension of ENEM, and INEP would have to reapply it.

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So, the exam happened, and another fact became a reason for popular outrage. INEP announced that one of the means of keep students from agglomerate was to fill classes with only 50% of the actual capacity of it. The issue was that the number of students designated per room was much bigger than that. The result: in the first day of ENEM, the supervisors let more people than the advised got in, and in some places, many students were prevented from entering the examining room because it would exceed the 50% allowed. Many students testified that those in charge only took a signature or some basic data, and then dismissed them without any kind of proof that they would ask for reapplication of the exam. Others testified that some rooms had even more than 50% of the capacity filled, representing a risk of contagious.

INEP answered the situation in a Press conference, and by the numbers that they mentioned it is possible to notice that they already knew this problem may happen. Also, external elements such as the notification of UFSC (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina) that have alerted about the bigger number of students per room received in their plan, corroborates the idea that INEP were already aware of it. They expected that the pandemic would low the number of students taking the exam. That happened, but not the way they thought it would. Obviously, it reverberated on popular opinion, and the hashtag #cancelaenem2020 got strong, becoming one of the most commented content on Twitter. In the end, INEP made available a resource for those who may need a reapplication of ENEM, the new exams would be taken on February 23rd and 24th.

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Then ENEM reached the end, and the new polemic was the government programs that have ENEM as the main criteria of approval. Sisu is one of the main ways that guarantee the entrance of many Brazilians into university. And the process of ENEM made circumstances very uncertain when it comes to Sisu. In an interview on December 10th, the MEC Minister Milton Ribeiro talked about the possibility of using the score of the previous ENEM to enter the Sisu program. This information again generated revolt in those who were preparing for taking the exam in 2020, but apparently, it was a misunderstood. The other day, December 11th, MEC published an announcement where they attested that Sisu applications would happen in April 2021, and it would use the score from ENEM 2020. The announcement did not mention Milton Ribeiro’s declaration. The speculation is that the Minister may have confused Sisu and Prouni, the last one had its applications in January 2021.

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The pandemic generated several adversities both in the selection processes, as described above about ENEM, as in the classes that started to take place in the remote modality, as it is happening here at Unespar, for example.  So, now let's hear some reports from the  students of the 2nd year of our course about classes during this remote period:

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Viviane said: “I found the strategy of some teachers to explore new online resources like mentimeter and kahoot very interesting to start online classes this year.  It was noticeable the adaptation of a year in which we were ‘surprised’ by the online format, to a year in which we already knew that we would still not be able to return to face-to-face education.  These ways of improving this contact with the student, through interactions like these, can contribute positively to our learning.  I really liked it!"