Lula launches ITA in Ceará and says he wants to export knowledge – 01/19/2024 – Education

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed this Friday (19), in Fortaleza, a decree that creates the ITA (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica) in Ceará, which will be installed after renovation and readjustment of the Air Base in the capital of Ceará.

This will be the headquarters of the first advanced campus of the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) higher education institution, a reference in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the areas of engineering and which is based in the São Paulo municipality of São José dos Campos.

During the event, the president said he wanted to “export knowledge” and made promises for his next three years in government, such as the creation of another 100 technological institutes across the country and an increase in the minimum wage for teachers.

“We will have to make a commitment to take advantage of this government mandate — there are three years left — so that we can solve Brazil’s education problem or at least consolidate a process of revolution in education,” he stated, highlighting that savings for students of high school, sanctioned this week, is a weapon for this.

According to the Ministry of Education, led by former Ceará governor Camilo Santana (PT), the state was chosen because it had a high percentage of ITA approvals, occupying around 40% of the institution’s course vacancies.

At the Ceará unit, undergraduate courses should be created in the areas of systems engineering and renewable energy engineering, in line with local potential – the Northeastern states are a reference in the production of clean energy.

Postgraduate programs, with master’s and doctorate degrees, are also planned.

Minister Camilo Santana explained that the establishment of the ITA in Ceará is being accelerated. Therefore, students must attend the first two years in São Paulo. The perspective is that, from 2027, the Ceará campus will begin to receive students in the second part of their training.

“This will open the doors of Ceará and the Brazilian Northeast. It is not just a center to train engineers. It will bring research, investments and development”, stated the minister. The entrance exam and the teacher competition should be launched later this year.

President Lula also announced a new education program, in which 100 new federal institutes will be launched in the country.

“We like to export meat, we like to export planes, any product, iron ore. But we now want to start exporting knowledge, we want to start exporting Brazilian intelligence”, said the president, also mentioning the Aerospace Technological Institute in Bahia, launched on Thursday (18).

Lula also promised to review the minimum salary for teachers and improve their working conditions. But he highlighted that the measures will depend on the recovery of the economy.

“Today the teacher goes to work earning a salary that is often not enough for the children to eat because the teacher’s salary is still low”, he stated.

Lula also said that he will take a week with minister Camilo Santana to travel around the country talking about education, in a speech to an audience made up of businesspeople, mayors, deputies and supporters.