NGO criticizes gap between education and the reality of agribusiness

The association Looking at School Supplies (DONME) published this Monday (6) a note on the Enem 2023 issues, which were criticized by the agribusiness bench, for associating the sector with violence in the countryside and the advance of deforestation. According to the entity, the questions portray “the distance between Brazilian education and the reality of current agribusiness.”

In the note, the NGO cites a recent survey by FIA-USP, which highlights misinformation related to Brazilian agribusiness in several textbooks aimed at students in public schools in the country.

“The Brazilian rural sector – a major generator of foreign exchange and opportunities for the country, and which has undergone a true technological revolution and good practices in recent decades – is still mostly associated in school content with negative themes, without scientific bases or reliable public sources , and in an opinionated way”, explains the association.

Among the measures taken against the Enem issues, the NGO said it issued “a letter to the Presidency of the Education Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, reinforcing the urgency of dialogue on this situation and the creation of a permanent channel of dialogue with the authorities dealing with this and other important topics.”

What is movement Keeping an eye on school supplies

DONME is a civil association, founded by rural producers in June 2020, whose corporate purpose is to seek to update content linked to agriculture, in textbooks used in public and private schools, always in a technical and scientific way.

The entity argues that, due to strict environmental and labor laws, in addition to constant technological improvement, the agricultural sector has undergone a major transformation in recent decades. However, a negative view of agribusiness still predominates in teaching materials, without showing its importance for the economy and with incorrect information about agrarian reform, slave labor in the countryside, excessive use of pesticides, fires, among others.

The group managed to attract technical support from entities such as the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa); the Luiz de Queiroz Higher School of Agriculture (Esalq), which operates at USP; and the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) and began making technical visits to publishers. A second line of action found by producers was taking teachers and students to farms and agribusiness companies, an activity called “experience”.

“We work with municipalities, state and federal governments, through our programs, and with educators and publishers, also bringing reflections on innovative pedagogical methodologies, to change the future scenario. Education on everyone’s radar!”, explains the NGO.