New high school: MEC plans to have only 2 itineraries – 08/04/2023 – Education

The Lula government (PT) intends to reduce by half the workload of secondary education allocated to the diversified part of the curriculum and to change from four to two the options of deepening areas to be chosen by the students, the so-called itineraries.

The MEC (Ministry of Education) is working on finalizing a bill to be sent to Congress to change changes made with the new secondary education. A Sheet had access to the draft of the project, finalized at the end of last week.

Effective in 2017, under the Michel Temer (MDB) government, the reform made the high school curriculum more flexible. The implementation has provoked strong complaints from students, professors and specialists, which indicate the infeasibility of applying what is foreseen in the legislation.

The main complaints are related to the offer of subjects with no curricular connection, within the so-called training itineraries, and the reduction of classes with traditional content. The MEC project means that the diversified part cannot exceed 600 hours over three years of high school – today, the law provides for a load of 1,200 hours.

Taking into account the organization with five hours of classes per day, the model of the PT government results in one day of class per week for classes related to the diversified part. Today, that part represents two days a week.

The common block of the curriculum, linked to what is foreseen in the National Common Curricular Base, would correspond to 80% of the total load in the MEC project —under current rules, it is 60%.

The folder still intends to debate the text of the project with secretaries and entities, in addition to analyzing the text in the light of the results of public consultations, according to reports obtained by the report.

Government members interpret the project as a kind of repeal, which would be in line with movements close to the PT that ask for this definition —although a certain flexibility of the curriculum is maintained.

Questioned, MEC informed, in a note, that it consolidates the results of the public consultation, whose report will be presented next week. “The entire process of evaluation and definitions in relation to a secondary education policy in Brazil has taken place in dialogue with the federated entities and actors that made up the consultation”, says the folder’s note.

The new one changes the name from “itinerary” to “deepening course” and also reduces the options. The project does not mention disciplines and maintains an approach of teaching by areas.

The 2017 reform defined that the diversified part should be organized into five options: languages, mathematics, human sciences, natural sciences and professional education. One of the obstacles faced by public school students is that there are not, in fact, all these options in schools for students to choose from.

In the project obtained by the report, only two paths are foreseen, in addition to professional technical education — which remains an option, but currently has a low offer in the country. The paths would be: 1) Languages, Mathematics, Human and Social Sciences and their technologies; and 2) Languages, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and their technologies.

Areas of the common curriculum can be expanded

There is also a forecast that more content will be obligatorily addressed in the common part. Today, there is talk of mandatory “physical education, art, sociology and philosophy”, in addition to Portuguese and mathematics in all years.

The new text extends this preconization to all areas of knowledge, “including digital culture”. They would be: Portuguese language and literature, foreign languages ​​and literature (with priority given to English and Spanish), art, physical education, mathematics, history, geography, sociology, philosophy, physics, chemistry, biology and “digital culture, computational thinking and information and communication technologies”.

Pressured by criticism from educators and students, the Lula government issued an ordinance in April that suspended the schedule for implementing the new secondary education. The act was a way to reduce the government’s attrition with the theme. The folder had created, in the previous month, a public consultation.

The portfolio has always avoided talking about repealing the new secondary education, which would depend on the consent of the National Congress – since the reform guidelines were inserted in the LDB (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação). The speech of the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana (PT), has always been in the sense of making adjustments and not revoking.

The minister himself has defended, however, that changes need to be appreciated by parliamentarians, including to maintain consistency with the criticism that Temer’s reform was not talked about. In 2017, the government changed the stage with a Provisional Measure, a legislative instrument that reduces the time for discussions.

The Lula government’s project establishes what would be called the National High School Policy. In addition to curricular interventions, actions are also planned to improve the infrastructure of schools and student retention.

The government will develop, according to the draft, a national strategy for student retention, including the granting of financial incentives, prioritizing students who are part of families enrolled in the Bolsa Família register. The creation of grants for high school students is already one of the government’s promises.

The MEC is still evaluating which details of the new secondary education policy will be included in the bill. This is because it is certain that there will also be at least one decree for relevant definitions.

The text still has the forecast to expand full-time high school enrollments, with a minimum total workload of 4,200 hours (7 hours of classes per day). Last week, Lula sanctioned a promotion law for new vacancies with extended hours in all stages of basic education.