MEC delivers proposal for New High School to President Lula

The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, delivered this Tuesday (24) to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the bill that establishes the restructuring of secondary education. The proposal was sent to the National Congress for a vote.

“The initiative is the result of dialogue with sectors of education and civil society and aims to solve problems identified by professionals in the field and students”, wrote Lula on social media.

The text presented was prepared based on the public consultation, carried out by the MEC in June and July this year, and included the collaboration of students, teachers and managers. The result of the virtual consultation was released by the MEC in early August.

The implementation of the new secondary education, in force since the government of Michel Temer (MDB), was suspended by the current government in April, following pressure from education unions and student movements. And amid criticism, the MEC decided to open a public consultation to evaluate the changes in secondary education.

In the text presented to President Lula, the MEC established 2,400 hours of workload allocated to Basic General Training in High School and vetoed the offering of subjects in a hybrid or remote format.

Planned changes

The PL presented by the MEC also foresees the resumption of all mandatory subjects, including the Spanish language, which should once again be mandatory in all networks within three years. History, geography, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, Portuguese and English are also proposed as mandatory curricular components.

The government also intends to revoke the Training Itineraries and introduce the In-depth and Integration of Studies Pathways, in the form of four interdisciplinary arrangements, combining at least three areas of knowledge. Each school must offer at least two deepening and integration of studies until the beginning of the 2025 academic year.

The text suggests prohibiting the use of distance education in the provision of Basic General Training and a regulatory proposal for the exceptional use of the modality in certain contexts, to be prepared by the Ministry of Education (MEC) in partnership with the National Education Council (CNE).

Furthermore, it is planned to revoke the provision that allowed the inclusion, among education professionals, of those who, eventually, had recognition of notorious knowledge for exceptional performance as teachers in professional and technological education courses.