Politics · Brazil · 11 hrs ago
Lula monitors first day of Brazil’s 2026 Enem exam
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited an Enem monitoring room in Brasília on the first day of Brazil’s 2026 national exam.
More than 5 million people are registered, the highest number since 2021.
From the room, officials track exam paper deliveries, staff attendance and the start of testing across 1,900 municipalities.
On the first day, candidates take a writing test and answer questions on languages and humanities.
Math and natural sciences are scheduled for November 15, the following Sunday.
This year, the Enem also joins Brazil’s Saeb system for assessing secondary education, while continuing its roles in access to higher education and certification.
The Education Ministry and Inep are due to present a first-day update after the exams end at 7 p.m.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is visiting the Enem monitoring room at Inep in Brasília on the first day of the 2026 exam.
Lula, Education Minister Leonardo Barchini and Inep president Manuel Palácios are monitoring exam paper deliveries in real time.
More than 5 million people are registered for the exam, which is being held in 1,900 municipalities.
Candidates are taking writing, language and humanities tests on November 8, with mathematics and natural sciences scheduled for November 15.
The source gives differing totals, reporting both more than 5 million and more than 5.5 million candidates.
- Who
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, accompanied by Education Minister Leonardo Barchini and Inep president Manuel Palácios.
- What
- Lula is visiting the monitoring room for the first day of the 2026 Enem exam.
- When
- November 8, 2026, at 11 a.m.
- Where
- Inep headquarters in Brasília, Brazil.
- Why
- To monitor exam operations, including the delivery of test packages and the start of the exam across the country.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Lula asked young people registered for the exam to attend during a live social media broadcast.
Distribution of exam packages began before Lula’s scheduled arrival at Inep.
Lula was scheduled to visit Inep’s monitoring room on the first day of the exam.
The Education Ministry and Inep were expected to present a first-day assessment at a press conference after the tests ended.
Candidates are scheduled to take the mathematics and natural sciences tests.
- Registered candidates
- More than 5 million; the article also reports more than 5.5 million
- Municipalities receiving exams
- 1,900
- First exam day
- November 8, 2026
- Second exam day
- November 15, 2026
- Candidates aged 17 and 18
- 2.56 million
What people are saying
an entrance to the future
I want to ask every boy and every girl: go, go take the Enem, because you are taking a very strong step toward securing a dignified future for yourself
The traditional entrance exam, as we used to have it, was something very exclusionary