Decision on secondary education took secretaries by surprise – 04/05/2023 – Education

The decision to suspend the implementation schedule of the new secondary education and the change of Enem in 2024 to adapt it to the reform caught even secretaries of the MEC (Ministry of Education) itself by surprise.

The suspension was decided, in large part, to try to alleviate the wear and tear that the government has been feeling with the movement that calls for the repeal of the reform. In March, the MEC had already carried out an act with the same motivation, by creating a working group to coordinate a public consultation for the evaluation and restructuring of the policy.

On Monday afternoon (3), there was a meeting of this group at the MEC. It is made up of the CNE (National Council of Education), Foncede (National Forum of State and District Councils of Education) and Consed (National Council of Secretaries of Education).

When questioned by representatives of these bodies, the executive secretary of the MEC, Izolda Cela, and the secretary of Intersectoral Articulation and with Education Systems, Maurício Holanda, said they were unaware that there was an initiative to suspend the implementation deadlines by an ordinance. The initiative had surfaced in the press hours before.

Government members and interlocutors see the episode as a symptom of the government’s attempt to calm the mood in an improvised way. Consed, contrary to the repeal, released a note in which it stressed that “there is an open consultation on the reform and, therefore, it would be important that any decision related to the subject be taken only after the end of the consultation.”

The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government did not plan to revoke the secondary education reform, established in 2017 and whose implementation for students began in 2022. In 2018, when Fernando Haddad (PT) was a presidential candidate, there was even in his program that goal. This did not appear, however, in Lula’s victorious campaign last year.

It so happens that criticism from specialists, unions, teachers and students gained momentum earlier this year. Such as Sheet has shown, the implementation of the new secondary education registers a series of problems, such as the lack of itinerary options in many schools and disconnected disciplines.

The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, has maintained a speech against the repeal and argues that there are adjustments. A repeal depends on an amendment to the law by the National Congress.

But the pressure from groups that defend the repeal and the mobilization of teachers and students cause discomfort in the government. The protest of students and professors in São Paulo, on March 15, also worried Lula’s team.

The assessment within the Planalto Palace is that the government has suffered exaggerated wear and tear by maintaining the reform, especially among students. Young people would not represent a consolidated base of support for the president because they did not live through the years of Lula’s two terms, hence the additional concern.

In addition, the government seeks to balance the dialogue with sectors of the left that are close, such as unions, and that ask for the total repeal.

The suspension of the implementation schedule was the solution found to give a signal in this direction. The idea has been circulating at MEC for a few weeks now, but it was last week that a draft of an ordinance appeared – which the Planalto team was already aware of last week.

On Monday morning, the Minister of Education himself said in an interview given in Ceará that the adaptation of the Enem to the reform of secondary education would be suspended. The information that there was an ordinance surfaced at the end of the morning, accompanied by great repercussions on social networks. But by the end of that day there was no official confirmation that the ordinance had been signed.

With the repercussions, Camilo was summoned by Lula to talk about the subject as early as Tuesday (4), in the morning. It was a meeting that lasted more than two hours, in which the president heard the details about the step, the implementation problems and what would be the consequences of suspending the deadlines.

Also participating in the meeting were trade unionist Heleno Araújo, president of the CNTE (National Confederation of Workers in Education), which advocates for repeal, and minister Rui Costa (Casa Civil). The meeting was behind closed doors.

The idea discussed at the meeting was to try to make adjustments to the reform without the need for a legislative change, although sending a specific bill has not been ruled out.

Only after talking to Lula did Camilo Santana go public, in the afternoon, and confirm that he would sign the act. Published in the Official Gazette this Wednesday (5), the ordinance suspends the deadlines for implementing curriculum adequacy, the Enem and also the Saeb (Basic Education Assessment System).

As the law continues to apply and the school year is already underway, there is no expectation that there will be any changes to what has been happening in the classroom. What was said by the minister himself. The main consequence is the maintenance of Enem in the current model also in 2024.

The suspension of these deadlines is already valid and continues for 60 days after the end of the public consultation, launched in March. As the consultation has a period of 90 days of operation, and another 30 days for the MEC to prepare a final report, this suspension must occur at least until the end of August.

In general terms, the policy reformulated the curriculum for the final years of basic education, so as to provide that 40% of the load is allocated to elective subjects organized within large areas of knowledge, the so-called training itineraries. Thus, the traditional subjects, common to students, are limited to 60% of the curriculum.

Implementation for students began in 2022, in the 1st year of the stage, when all state networks in the country needed to adapt. Most private schools did the same.

In 2023, the change continued for 2nd year students and, in 2024, it would reach the 3rd classes, completing high school. Even in the face of strong criticism of the precariousness of the school offer, this schedule was being followed by the education networks.