In partnership with Termine Seu Estudos, iFood granted scholarships for delivery men and women to complete their studies through My High School Diploma program, with a preparation course for Encceja (National Examination for Certification of Skills for Young People and Adults), a test that gives those who pass a certificate of completion of high school.
“Encceja has many questions about life, everyday things, these are real experiences. So it's a test for young people and adults. The average age at Encceja is 30 years old”, comments Tiago Dias, founder of Termine seu Estudos.
In an interview with iFood News, he talks a little more about the Encceja test and its importance in improving the professional prospects of those who have not finished their studies — read below.
iFN – How is your partnership with iFood?
Tiago – We are an online 100% education platform and we offer courses to prepare students to take the Encceja test. Before registration for Encceja [2022] opened, iFood contacted us. We were part of the evaluation round and they ended up selecting our platform.
So, today we provide services for iFood. There were almost 5,000 bags offered to the company's entire network of partners, especially delivery drivers. They started the course in May and studied for three months.
iFN – Why do you consider this test to be more pedagogically appropriate?
Tiago – If we compare it with the Enem, which was used to complete high school from 2009 to 2016, we will see that the Enem is not intended as a high school certification test. It is a test to qualify young people and adults, especially after the new Enem, which is a gateway to higher education.
Encceja, as the name suggests, is the National Competence Certification Exam for Young People and Adults. So he is born with this nature and it is an extremely suitable test pedagogically to take this certification.
Starting with the number of questions, which is reduced. There are 30 questions, with only 4 alternatives, not 5. Furthermore, it is a shorter test, so people who have been away from school for many years can read the test.
Finally, Encceja addresses more practical experience, it has many questions about everyday things and real experiences. So it's a test for young people and adults. The average age of those who provide Encceja is 30 years old.
iFN – Why is it important for these people to finish their studies?
Tiago – The importance of this is brutal, right? We often say that High School is the first certification recognized by the market, it is the first step. Today, in an increasingly sophisticated market, high school education is required for everything.
Even to perform the simplest operational functions, organized companies will always ask for and look at the level of education. And not just because high school is the first step, that is, it is the gateway, but because the high school certificate is required for any other specialization that the person wishes to study, such as college, technical courses, professional courses. Even some courses in free areas that are more specific require a diploma.
We see it through the students’ own reports. I always ask them this question, and the response, which is somewhat unanimous, is impressive. I ask: “What changed most in your life when you got your diploma?” And the answer they give most is: “everything”.
Then, they explain that it has changed how they see themselves, how people see them, the market has changed, because they can go to college, competitions, they can have access to something they never had, which is having open doors. Anyway, they can dream.
iFN – How do you support these students to not give up on the Encceja course?
Tiago – What we do first is disseminate information through our communication channels. We have a YouTube channel, and our main focus there is to motivate this person, take that spark that lit up and show that it is possible. That she doesn't need to stop her life, and prove that Encceja is much simpler than she imagines.
People do not have technical knowledge about the test. They imagine that they will have to study all the content of the first year, second year and third year. But I say there's no problem, because you just need to prove that you have the minimum knowledge.
So, the main weapon is information about how the test works, and the second is motivation. Really showing stories of people, who sometimes knew less than them, who stopped, who hadn't studied for longer than them, of people who stopped in primary school, who understood basic concepts, took the test and got the certification.
iFN – Is it now possible to estimate the damage caused by the pandemic on school dropouts?
Tiago – The damage that the pandemic did to education was gigantic, mainly because schools were closed for almost a year and a half. Public school students suffered infinitely more because they do not always have access to the internet.
And there was also a disincentive, in this sense, because young people spent a year and a half or a year, at least, there, without having access to school. Then they started to have a different rhythm of life and then they had a lot of difficulty getting back.
We have a diagnosis that these numbers will appear in Encceja. There should be a greater demand in the coming years due to these young people who have now dropped out and who no longer want to return to school, because they failed or are out of their class age.
