Party goes to the STF for maintenance of the Quota Law – 07/19/2023 – Education

This Wednesday (19) the PV filed a lawsuit at the STF (Federal Supreme Court) for Justice to ensure that the forecast to revise the Quota Law at federal universities is not interpreted as a possible end to affirmative action.

The party’s legal area understands that it is necessary to end controversy over legal validity while Congress does not produce new legislation.

The Quota Law came into force in 2012, with reservations for vacancies in federal institutions of higher education for students from public schools, blacks, indigenous browns and people with disabilities.

An article of the law provides that, within ten years, there should be “a review of the special program for access to higher education institutions for black, brown and indigenous students and people with disabilities, as well as those who have attended full-time education medium in public schools”.

Thus, the deadline has already ended. This wording of the article was included in the 2016 law. In the original, from 2012, this revision was an explicit attribution of the Executive Branch.

The Direct Action of Unconstitutionality filed earlier this afternoon asks the Supreme Court for a decision establishing that the scope of “the word ‘revision’ does not mean extinction, consummation or expiration of the Quota Law”. The proposition also seeks a precautionary measure in this sense, in order to anticipate the understanding before the judgment of the merits.

In the understanding of the legal area of ​​PV, the text of the Quota Law leaves a gap, with the risk of setbacks in a country affected by structural racism.

“It is not clear that this policy should end, but it is also not clear that the quotas should remain in force. As there is a legal controversy, the action asks that what is foreseen in the legislation be maintained until Congress enacts another norm, which there is no deadline for this to happen and we know that there are cases of legislative delay that last for decades”, says lawyer Lauro Rodrigues de Moraes Rêgo Júnior, representative of the PV in the action, alongside Vera Lúcia da Motta, Maria Marta de Oliveira and Caio Henrique Camacho Rabbit.

The Quota Law took more than ten years to be approved by Congress. Decisive for the advance, in addition to the strong mobilization of black movements and the right to education, was a decision by the STF on the constitutionality of the measure.

In the last legislature, 19 proposals on the Quota Law were presented in the Chamber, according to the Brazilian Legislative Observatory. Of these, nine were in favor, one was neutral and nine were against, according to the agency. This dispute was centered on the maintenance of the racial profile.

In 2022, when the sanction of the law was ten years old, mobilization of the black movement and parliamentarians linked to education ensured the postponement of the discussion in Congress. This was motivated by pressure from the electoral calendar and also by the positioning of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, not used to affirmative action policies and whose influence could result in setbacks.

In addition, the MEC (Ministry of Education) also did not produce technical data to support the debate, nor permanent monitoring of experiences and obstacles in universities.

This year, federal deputy Dandara Tonantzin (PT-MG) was appointed rapporteur for the project that changes the law “to make permanent the reservation of vacancies” in universities and federal institutes. She defends greater periodicity to review criteria and that the new law talks with the student assistance plan in order to avoid evasion in universities.

Quotas began to be implemented in stages until reaching, in 2016, the reservation of 50% of places for public schools. The legislation requires separation of seats for blacks, browns and indigenous people according to the proportion of the population of each state, in addition to recommending income cuts.

A report by the Council for Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies, dated August 2022, showed evidence that the Quota Law led to greater inclusion at the university and there were no negative impacts on student performance.

Datafolha research from the middle of last year showed that half of the population is in favor of racial quotas in public universities. Support is higher, at 60%, among people with children in private schools —who, theoretically, would be passed over with affirmative action.

The younger, educated and with a higher income the person, the greater the support for racial quotas in universities. 34% are against affirmative action. Another 3% were indifferent and 12% said they did not know how to respond.