High School: Secretaries criticize changes and ask MEC for a new deadline

After the Ministry of Education (MEC) announced possible changes in the restructuring of the National High School Policy, secretaries of Education and the National Council of Education (CNE) issued a position contrary to the changes announced by the folder based on the public consultation. The document with the critical points will be delivered to the MEC, this Tuesday (22).

The secretaries and advisers intend to present four aspects considered essential in order to “guarantee the offer of an attractive High School, adequate to the reality of Brazilian youths”.

“Eventual changes in this stage of basic education must also be accompanied by reviews of didactic materials, state norms, curricula, teacher training, assessment regimes, among others”, says one of the excerpts of the document, which the People’s Gazette had access.

Among the suggestions in the document, there is a request to ensure up to 2,100h from 3,000h for the basic disciplines. And that the remainder of the 900 hours must be divided into 300 hours for the Common Base of Training Itineraries (which must be the subject of construction) and the remainder between the New Enem and the provision of Professional and Technical Education, so that the states can allocate the additional workload.

Regarding the prohibition of distance learning, the councils defend the maintenance of the flexible offer of Secondary Education as a “prerequisite to enable the implementation of the reform in the night shift and necessary to solve the territorial specificities of each region”. And they also point out as additional factors in favor of the distance learning offer, the lack of teachers to make the schedules compatible, the logistics of school transport and the infrastructure of the schools.

Regarding the implementation of the changes, the group asks that they only take place in 2025 so that there is “a feasible transition period”, since the new secondary education has started in all states, “with the respective curricular regulations edited by the state councils and education district and its repercussions on the pedagogical processes and the selection and hiring of teachers”.

When presenting the new suggestions for Secondary Education, on August 7th, the MEC set a deadline to receive suggestions from educational organizations about the proposal before sending the text to the Legislative. The project is expected to be sent to the National Congress by the end of the month.