More than 1.08 million registrants have participated, since 1:30 pm this Sunday (26), in the first edition of the National Teaching Test (PND) across the country. The test is a mandatory step for those who complete a degree course in 2025 and also for teachers who want to use the exam score in a teacher selection process, carried out by states and municipalities that have joined the so-called CNU for Teachers.
The test lasts 5 hours and 30 minutes and will end at 7pm, Brasília time. Candidates, however, can leave the exam room two hours after the start.
In the Federal District, one of the PND candidates is Francisco Gilvar Pereira da Silva, son of an illiterate couple from Piauí. At 56 years old, he will complete the Portuguese language course in December, his second degree. Life was never easy for Francisco, who started working at the age of 7 as an assistant loading sand and wood onto trucks in Amarante (PI). Coming to Brasília was motivated by military service. However, it was as a cleaning assistant at a private school in Brasília, and the proximity to the academic world that the desire to be a teacher was awakened in Francisco.
Francisco Gilvar awaits the opening of the gates to take the National Teaching Test – Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Within the educational institution, he rose through the ranks to the position of administrative assistant, which influenced him in choosing his first course, administration. He was the first member of the family to have a higher education, but something was missing to make his dream come true. So, he won a scholarship and pursued his dream of studying the degree that is most familiar with letters, those that his relatives did not know. Deceased parents will not have the opportunity to see their child with a diploma in hand. But it is to his homeland that he wants to return to make a difference in the education of other “Franciscos and Franciscas”, as it was one day in Amarante.
“I feel a great emotion because I want to return to my state to give opportunities to those who don’t have the means [de estudar]like I didn’t have. And to teach, pass on my knowledge and a little of my experience. It will be rewarding.”
A dream
Another candidate in the Federal District, indigenous Edinácio Silva Vargas, 32 years old, from the Marubo ethnic group, was waiting to cross the gate of the Paulo Freire Secondary Education Center, in Asa Norte, the center of the federal capital, to take the National Teaching Test. He told the news report Brazil Agency who since leaving the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land (TI), in Cruzeiro do Sul (AC), had the dream of being an English language teacher.
“It was an old dream of wanting to speak another language. I’m not fluent yet, but it’s not far away. I’m also thinking about the professional prospects that English can provide.”
During his student career, Edinácio graduated in public management from the State University of Amazonas. Today, he wants to unite the two higher education courses for the benefit of his future students.
“Based on the last mandatory internships I did, during my degree, I want to provide support, mediate knowledge. I want, with my profession, to teach, help people, which contributes to the formation of students’ lives. I really liked this ‘thing’ of helping”, he admits.
The example drags
Future physical education teacher Diego Lima decided to set an example. As a Paralympic athlete, the young man says he had great teachers who encouraged him to compete. The dedication of these teachers inspired him to be one of them.
“For me, being here today, in this last stage, is very gratifying, because I am following the great examples I had.” It’s also a source of pride for them to see a student graduating and wanting to be a professional like they were.”
Diego Lima is waiting to take the National Teaching Test in Brasília. Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Diego Lima was born with cerebral palsy. Currently, in addition to being a final-year undergraduate student, he is a wheelchair sprinter, after having practiced athletics, tennis and wheelchair basketball. The turning point in his head and heart that made him choose teaching was ten years ago.
However, the lack of financial resources almost made him abandon college midway through the course. Through the Citizen Athlete Program, of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), which aims to stimulate personal and professional development, Diego Lima returned to studying and wants to take new flights after graduating.
“Now, I’m at the stage where I want to make a difference in the lives of other athletes. When I’m in my teaching career, I want to continue, pass on what I’ve learned to future students and give them the knowledge they need.”
For Maíra Araújo dos Santos, 23 years old, resident of the city of Itapoã, in the Federal District, the behavior of a chemistry teacher named Marina, in high school, influenced her decision to take the course.
“If we stop to think, everything around us is chemistry. I want to show students that this area is much more than a subject that will scare you, as Professor Marina taught me.
Armed with a black pen to take the test, Maíra confesses that before she even thinks about becoming a teacher, she is taking the test this Sunday because she needs to prove her presence to finally get the long-awaited diploma. “This test is from the Enade of Degrees. So, for the college to release my diploma, I need to take the PND.”
Maíra Santos says that the behavior of a chemistry teacher in high school influenced her to take the course – Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Candidates answer the PND questions this Sunday, which have content based on the same matrix as the theoretical assessment of the National Student Performance Exam (Enade) for Bachelor’s Degrees, which, since its first edition in 2024, has focused on teacher training courses,
Care career
If Maíra urgently wants to complete the chemistry course, the objective of Solange Oliveira Braga, graduated in pedagogy, is to be approved in the competition of the Federal District Education Department, authorized this month and which will be held in 2026.
“I’m already studying, because next year there will be a competition from the DF Department of Education. That’s what I’m aiming for. I intend to teach children under 5 years old.”
She says she realized her vocation for early childhood education when taking care of her little brothers, in the city of São Francisco, Minas Gerais. “You remember your childhood, caring for your siblings and how good it is to have contact with children. It’s true love.”
The kick I needed to teach came from my own family. “I have relatives who work in this area. So, I looked up to them. That’s why, my whole life I’ve always said: when I study, I want to be a teacher”
Profession that forms all others
Student Marcela Silva Vaz, 31 years old, will also complete her degree course in 2025. When aiming for the stability of the public service and the right salary every beginning of the month, Marcela also thinks about children in situations of economic and social vulnerability.
“There are many needy children and some schools leave a lot to be desired. I want to be a difference in all of this, working in the first year of elementary school, where knowledge begins with teaching how to read and write.”
Marcela Silva Vaz wants to work with children in elementary school – Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Marcela explains that the basic education teacher is the professional who trains everyone else.
Regarding the reality inside the classroom, she argues that education networks must adapt better to serve neurodivergent students and those with other special needs. “Nowadays, there are a greater number of special needs children in schools. I understand that teachers have difficulties and many are unable to achieve the objective of teaching well, due to various factors. But I learned to give my best. At school, I want to be a teacher who gives direction, together with the family. The teacher has to have this dedication”.
Participants
According to the Ministry of Education (MEC), Brasília and other cities in the DF appear in third position among those with the highest number of subscribers (18,754), among 1.08 million subscribers. The first places come from the municipality of São Paulo (84,633), followed by the municipality of Rio de Janeiro (28,765). The state with the highest number of confirmed subscribers is São Paulo (253,895), followed by Minas Gerais (97,113) and Rio de Janeiro (72,230).
In relation to the 17 areas of the degree evaluated this Sunday, pedagogy led registrations in the PND, with 560,576 people confirmed. In second place is the area of letters – Portuguese, with 73,187 confirmations; followed by mathematics (72,530) and physical education (65,911).
The PND
The PND will be applied annually. The test is part of the Mais Professores para o Brasil program, which brings together actions to recognize and qualify basic education teachers and encourage teaching in the country.
