8 April 2010 ORT Brazil students shine in university entrance exams ORT Brazil is once again celebrating a bumper crop of university entrants with more than 90 per cent of its graduates taking up highly sought after tertiary education places including several whose performance in the fiercely competitive entrance exam placed them among the top 10 candidates for their chosen subjects. However, for ORT Brazil National Director Hugo Malajovich, the joy and pride at seeing his students excel in the wider world have had the sheen taken off them by the increasing number of children ORT has had to turn away from its technical high school because there is not enough money to fund all the scholarships applied for. It is painful to have to turn people away, Dr Malajovich said. We cant accept all the young people who want to learn with us but we hope we shall overcome and that this will be only a little step down before we make two steps up. Clara Magdelena Gomes receives a prize for best pupil at the ORT Technical High School in Rio de Janeiro from Luis Ben Yosef, Professor of Geophysics at the National Observatory of Brazil.

Demand for places at the ORT Technical High School in Rio de Janeiro has gone from strength to strength, mirroring the academic performance of the school. Last year, it enrolled the highest number of students in its 66-year history 360 students; just 40 places short of capacity.
This 20 per cent surge on the previous year came in the wake of the school being ranked 13th of the 18,000 schools in the country by the Ministry of Education making it the top technical school and top Jewish school in Brazil.
At the time, Dr Malajovich expressed the hope that increased enrolment could make the school self-sufficient in funding scholarships for the needy. Instead, the tough economic climate has resulted in enrolment slipping back to 320 as fewer parents than expected felt able to pay tuition fees.
It is very disappointing: the demand exists but there is an economic filter, Dr Malajovich said. If we are unable to help with the fees then applicants will go to other, non-Jewish schools which are free. These schools are not bad but they are not as good as ours.
Meanwhile, those who have benefited from an ORT education look set to fulfil the potential nurtured by the rigorous study schedule at their high school.
This latest batch of ORT graduates looks set to match the 100 per cent university entrance performance of the year before; while 36 students have accepted places at university the remaining three have yet to decide how to proceed.
There is no compulsion to continue studying, Dr Malajovich said. With the technical diploma they receive on graduating from ORT they can start work straight away. But I expect that everyone this year will eventually decide to go to university.
Among the 36 are several outstanding performers: Renan Protector, who wants to study computing, came fourth in the examination for one university, sixth at another and seventh at a third institution; Victor Andres Moreira Besada won fourth place in the exam for Engineering and Automation at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); and Ian Smith Muniz came seventh for Production Engineering at Fluminense University (UFF), which is one of the citys finest colleges.
However, the star performers were Clara Magdalena Gomes, who came first in the admission list for Biological Sciences at UFF, and Renan Kogut, who took poll position in the entrance exam for Visual Communications and Design at UFRJ.
Clara was among the 18 gifted students from 11 countries whom World ORT brought together at the Weizmann Institute of Science for last years Raya Cowan International Science Summer School, where she investigated how antibiotics inhibit ribosomes, the cell components which synthesise proteins.
Renan, who received the award for best pupil in 2008 and together with Clara in 2009, was ORT Brazils other candidate for the Summer School but could not send him because of limited funds.
Their result is as prestigious as it sounds particularly when you consider that there are more than 10 candidates for every university place, Dr Malajovich said. But I am proud of all 36 of our students who are entering university. To come first in an exam shows that you have an excellent knowledge of the subject but it is a moment in time. But all our students who have won places at university demonstrate the desire to achieve and to grow over time, which is more important.
Our objective at ORT Brazil is to educate for life and prepare our students for the future. Not everyone can be first but everyone is important. We are interested in the marathon, not just the sprint.