Senate CCJ approves text that makes the quota law definitive

The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate approved, this Wednesday (18), the text that consolidates the law that provides quotas for admission to federal universities and federal institutions. The proposal, authored by government deputies, had already been approved in the Chamber in August. After agreement at the CCJ, the bill is expected to be taken to the Senate Plenary next week. If approved, the text goes to presidential sanction or veto.

The proposal approved by the CCJ revises and makes the quota law definitive, including quilombolas among the groups benefiting from special places in higher education. The proposal also reduces the maximum per capita family income of the student applying for admission through quotas from 1.5 to one minimum wage for having completed secondary education in public schools.

In the newsroom, a new mechanism for filling special vacancies was also established. Instead of quota holders competing only for the vacancies stipulated for their subgroup (black, mixed race, indigenous, etc.), they will compete for general vacancies. If they do not reach the admission score, then their score will be used to compete for the places reserved for their subgroup within the global quota of 50%.

Sanctioned in 2012, the quota law should be revised in 2022, according to the current text. However, being an election year, the review ended up being extended.

The current law determines that all federal universities and federal institutes of education, science and technology reserve at least 50% of the places in each course for students who completed high school in public schools. Half of these reserved places must be allocated to students from families with a monthly income equal to or less than 1.5 minimum wages per capita – as stated, the new text currently being processed provides for a reduction to one minimum wage.

Within the total number allocated to quota holders, vacancies must be filled by self-declared black, brown and indigenous students and by people with disabilities (in the new wording, quilombolas are included) in a proportion at least equal to the respective proportion of these groups in the state in which the institution is located based on the most updated IBGE census.

Since its entry into force, the law in question has been the subject of major discussions, especially because as for half of the quota holders the “income” factor is not considered, black, indigenous or disabled people who are in higher economic classes can enter the institutions of education through quotas, leaving out more socioeconomically vulnerable people who do not belong to these groups.