ARE HUMAN RIGHTS THE RIGHTS WE HAVE?

Abstract

In the last years, due to a serious humanitarian crisis, over seven million Venezuelans have left their country, and many are moving to Brazil as their migration destination. For Venezuelan families, education represents an opportunity for integration and inclusion in the host society. However, Venezuelan students in highschool face several obstacles in preparing to take the ENEM, a national exam of access to higher education in Brazil. Based on literature about the ENEM and migrants in Brazil, as well as on ethnographic research conducted in two public schools in the state of Paraíba, this article describes the difficulties and challenges that the ENEM, specifically its essay section, imposes on Venezuelan students. The results indicate that they face significant challenges related to Portuguese language and institutional barriers. In addition, ENEM’s essay is perceived as the biggest challenge, which results from their lack of socio-cultural repertoire on Brazil. It makes the production of a dissertative-argumentative text even more difficult, as it demands reflection on Brazilian socio-cultural themes and a proposal of social intervention that respects human rights.