3 out of 4 indigenous teachers have a temporary contract – 04/19/2023 – Education

Still little present in basic education, indigenous teachers who work in public schools in the country are mostly hired on a temporary basis. Three out of four of them do not have effective employment contracts.

The survey was carried out by Instituto República, an entity that works with actions to improve people management in the country’s public service. The data analyzed are from the 2020 School Census, carried out by Inep (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research).

According to the study, while 26% of all teachers have temporary contracts, this proportion rises to 73.9% among indigenous people. The country has about 2 million teachers in public schools, only 0.79% (15,873) of them are indigenous.

“This is worrying data as it shows that indigenous people are present in schools without an effective bond and in a hiring format that can be more precarious. class”, explains Vera Monteiro, vice-president of the institute’s council.

The National Education Plan established that teaching networks should have only 10% of teachers hired on a temporary basis. This measure was seen as a strategy to improve the working conditions of teachers and avoid a shortage of professionals in schools.

“This rule is no longer complied with in general, but when we look at the indigenous segment, we see an even worse situation,” she said.

Monteiro explains that hiring for a fixed period is not, in itself, synonymous with precarious hiring. “The problem is that the legislation of subnational entities (states and municipalities) on the subject is not of good quality and causes serious governance problems in the use of the instrument.”

“Structural racism and poor legislation perpetuate inequality in the public service,” he adds.