Quilombolas in the Quota Law make project more inclusive – 08/16/2023 – Educação

The renewal of the Quotas Law, approved by the Chamber of Deputies last week, established the inclusion of the quilombola population among the beneficiaries in the reservation of vacancies in universities and federal educational institutes in the country.

The text, which will be discussed in the Senate, provides that the new rules will be maintained until 2033, with an evaluation every ten years, with annual monitoring cycles.

Other changes were the reduction of the per capita family income of quota candidates to 1 minimum wage; the expansion of affirmative policies for graduate studies; and the alteration in the entrance mechanism, allowing the notes to be computed in the broad competition first and, in case they are not reached, they can be used in the reservation of vacancies.

For researcher and sociologist Luiz Augusto Campos, the innovations improve the proposal and expand its reach.

“Fixing specific problems [junto com a renovação] makes the quota law more inclusive”, says Campos, who is coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Studies Group of Affirmative Action at Uerj (University of the State of Rio de Janeiro).

According to him, these were positive changes that reflect the analyzes made based on studies of the functioning of the program, which began in 2012. “This was the first far-reaching policy to recognize existing discrimination. It introduced the concept of affirmative policies in Brazil”, it says.

The researcher states that the inclusion of quilombolas is welcome as it brings recognition to this community. This is what José Ramos, coordinator of Conaq (National Coordination of Quilombo Articulation) also points out.

“With this law, access for our young people is guaranteed and facilitated. This brings this look, this strengthening to our communities”, says Ramos. “We already expected this position from the government, we had an idea of ​​what could really happen.”

The update of the law brings a new criterion for filling the quotas. First, the quotaholder candidates will compete for vacancies in the broad competition.

If the grade is not enough to enter through this modality, they will compete for vacancies destined for their subgroups (blacks, browns, indigenous peoples, quilombolas, people with disabilities and public school students). As a result, quota holders will have more than one way to enter the university course.

Inclusion also applies to postgraduate studies. According to the bill, the institutions must promote affirmative actions for these groups also in this stage of higher education, but the text does not specify which policy should be adopted, giving autonomy to the entities.

According to the Ministry of Racial Equality, by December 2021, more than half of graduate programs at public universities had some type of affirmative action in the selection process.

The Conaq coordinator argues that it is necessary to work with young people of quilombola origin and the importance of occupying these spaces in education.

“Our role was to guide, raise awareness about the way he is inserted, the way he participates and the importance of participating in the Enem test. It was a well endorsed battle for these young people.”

Researcher defends quotas for transgender people

Although the approval of the law was essential for not promoting setbacks and for resolving legal uncertainty on the subject, sociologist Campos highlights two issues that he considers can still be improved.

“I am in favor of including trans people in the group of beneficiaries. Another thing is in relation to black people who ascend socially. They are not free from racial discrimination. They should have a small percentage in the quotas [também].”

Currently, the law provides this right to black, brown, indigenous, disabled and low-income public school students.

Bill No. 5384/20 proceeds to the Senate for evaluation. Law 12,711/12, which created the quota system, already provided for a reassessment of the policy after ten years of its implementation, but this did not occur in 2022.

“Today, in fact, there is a law that specifically guarantees these quotas, nobody can change it. This is a very fundamental part of the fight and a victory for us”, says Ramos, from Conaq.

The Quilombos do Brasil project is a partnership with the Ford Foundation