Minister confirms suspension of term of new high school – 04/04/2023 – Education

After meeting with President Lula (PT) for almost two hours this Tuesday morning (4), the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, confirmed that he will suspend the schedule for implementing the new secondary education and changes in the Enem. Camilo said that there will be adjustments to the model, but maintained that there are no plans to revoke the measure, as demanded by student organizations.

Camilo said that there will be no advances in implementation while the work of a commission that analyzes the issue lasts. On the other hand, he stated that there is no forecast that education networks and schools will go back on the process, which has already started in 2022.

The ordinance that suspends the schedule for implementing the new high school will be signed this Tuesday, according to the minister. In practice, the biggest change brought about by the measure falls on Enem. The exam should be adapted in 2024 to the new high school, with different tests by areas of knowledge, but with the suspension of the process, this reform will be postponed.

The suspension of the schedule is a political gesture to soften the criticism that the Lula government has been suffering on the subject. A portion of specialists, teachers and students defend the repeal of the reform in secondary education because of the problems accumulated in its implementation.

Members of the MEC indicate that the freezing of the schedule would remove the obligation for the networks to advance in the implementation of the model, at least while there is no definition of the folder on any adjustments to it.

A total repeal of the secondary education reform depends on the approval of a new law by the National Congress. The idea discussed at the meeting Camilo had with Lula is to try to make adjustments without the need for legislative change, although the submission of a specific bill has not been ruled out.

The unionist Heleno Araújo, president of the CNTE (National Confederation of Workers in Education), and minister Rui Costa (Casa Civil) also participated in the meeting. The meeting was behind closed doors.

At an event at the MEC in the early afternoon, Camilo defended that the main objective of this suspension is to allow time for a qualified discussion of the reform.

“We are suspending any progress in the implementation until this commission defines, evaluates, listening to everyone, which will be the modifications, changes or corrections that we will make in the secondary school”, he declared.

Camilo criticized the conduct of the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) in federal support for the implementation process and said that there were many failures in the states, which had already been pointed out during the transition.

“It has been that it chose eight disciplines in the itinerary, it has been that it chose 300. There was no guidance, teacher training, there was no adaptation of infrastructure”, he said. “You don’t make a change like that from one hour to another, this is a process. There was a lack of dialogue.”

The suspension that comes with the new ordinance that is about to be published will occur, initially, in the period foreseen for the public consultation on the subject.

Initiated in March, the consultation lasts 90 days, with the possibility of extension, and another 30 days for the MEC to prepare a report that will define the future of the policy.

“The conversation, including a conversation with the President of the Republic, is that we are going to maintain the dialogue, strengthen this commission, deepen the debate including the National Congress so that we can, after 90 days, present a proposal after a great listening of the population.”

The new secondary education was approved in 2017, based on a provisional measure (which accelerates the legislative process), and provides for the organization of the timetable in two parts.

Under the new rules, 60% of the three-year workload is made up of regular subjects, common to all students. The other 40% are allocated to optional subjects within large areas of knowledge, the so-called training itineraries.

The suspension does not please the state secretaries of Education, who argue that they have carried out important work to structure the new model. More than 80% of secondary school enrollments are in state systems.

Consed, the council that brings together state education secretaries, released a note in which it criticizes even the postponement of changes in the Enem. The agency condemned the decision to suspend the schedule.

“There is an open consultation on the reform and therefore it would be important that any decision related to the topic be taken only after the end of the consultation,” the council said in a note.

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UNDERSTAND THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL

What is it
Policy approved in 2017, by provisional measure, during Temer (MDB), defined that part of the workload would be chosen by students so that they could deepen their knowledge in the area of ​​greatest interest

Structure
It increased the number of hours of mandatory annual classes for the stage, going from 800 to at least 1,000. Thus, the total workload of secondary education was increased by 25%, from 2,400 to 3,000 hours, as follows:

• 60% reserved for the common workload, with the regular subjects
• 40% formed by electives within five major areas of knowledge, the so-called training itineraries

Limitations
Over the three years of the stage, the time devoted to traditional disciplines cannot exceed 1,800 hours. As before, schools had 2,400 hours to distribute classes in common subjects, in practice, the ceiling reduced the time dedicated exclusively to subjects such as mathematics, Portuguese, history and geography

Definition of itineraries and disciplines
The law says that education networks are free to define which itineraries and disciplines they want to create, as long as they are within one of the five established areas of knowledge

For whom OK
All public and private schools in the country. About 7 million students were impacted by the policy, most of them (about 85%) are enrolled in schools in the state education networks

Deadlines
The law established a period of five years for education networks to prepare, following the following schedule:

• 1st year of high school in 2022
• 2nd year in 2023
• All three years of the stage until 2024

Many networks, however, began implementation earlier, such as the São Paulo state network, which started the process in 2021