Invisibility and civil records: 2021 ENEM essay is about same topic as FGV study and book
This subject has been studied by journalist Fernanda da Escóssia since 2014 and it was the topic of her doctoral dissertation in history, politics and culture at FGV CPDOC.
The first day of this year’s National High School Exam (ENEM), held on Sunday, November 21, presented candidates with the following essay topic: “Invisibility and civil records: guaranteeing access to citizenship in Brazil.” This subject has been studied by journalist Fernanda da Escóssia since 2014 and it was the topic of her doctoral dissertation in history, politics and culture at FGV CPDOC.
The study was published by FGV Press in September of this year, in the form of the book “Invisible People: An Ethnography About Brazilians Without ID.” The book presents the experiences of Brazilian adults without a birth certificate and argued that this issue needs to be addressed urgently on the public policy agenda in Brazil, given that without this document, people cannot access basic health, education and welfare services or obtain other personal documents such as an ID card, taxpayer card or employment card.
In her book, the author says that obtaining a birth certificate leads to rights, access to citizenship and records of family history. She shows that getting a birth certificate is part of a larger process of constructing identity and citizenship.
The essay topic was presented soon after Brazil’s national statistics agency, IBGE, released new data about civil records in 2020. As noted by Fernanda da Escóssia, the number of birth certificates issued fell 4.7% in 2020, during the pandemic. There were 2.7 million births recorded, the lowest in 25 years. This demonstrates that this is an urgent challenge for Brazil, which deserves more attention, even considering the circulation difficulties imposed by the pandemic and the decline in fertility observed in recent years.
The National High School Exam (ENEM) was created in 1998, in order to evaluate students’ academic performance at the end of basic education. In 2009, the exam’s methodology was improved and it started to be used as a mechanism to access higher education. Since then, ENEM has been the main method of accessing higher education in Brazil. It is accepted by the country’s leading universities, including FGV.
To find out how to join FGV’s undergraduate courses based on your ENEM score, visit the FGV University Entrance Exam website.
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