Spending per student in Brazil is the 3rd worst among 42 countries – 09/12/2023 – Education

Public spending per basic education student in Brazil is a little more than a third of the average in rich countries. The country’s level of investment in this regard is the third worst among the 42 countries evaluated, according to data released this Tuesday (12) by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Brazil invests the equivalent of US$2,981 per student — which takes into account all public investments in public education, divided by the number of enrollments from primary to secondary education. In addition to being well below the OECD average, which is US$10,510 per student, Brazil only surpasses Mexico and South Africa in this indicator.

The information is in the new edition of Education at Glance, a report produced by the OECD that compares a series of important educational indicators.

Brazil’s total spending on basic education, in relation to GDP (Gross Domestic Product), is similar to that practiced in rich countries. But the comparison of spending per student reveals a scenario of better equivalence between countries by taking enrollment into account — the values ​​are calculated in dollars with purchasing power parity.

Latin American neighbors such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica invest larger amounts in the calculation per student. At the top end, there are Luxembourg ($23,577), Switzerland ($17,598) and Norway ($15,986).

The data in the report refer to the year 2020. The study shows that Brazil, after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, took the opposite path to that adopted by rich countries, which make up the OECD, in relation to spending on education .

Between 2019 and 2020, the country reduced public spending on education by 10.5% while spending on other services increased by 8.9%. On the OECD average, expenditure in other areas grew similarly (9.5%), but resources for education, unlike what was observed in Brazil, increased: 2.1%.

In 2021, the OECD had already published a report that showed this trend, but did not provide these percentages. Between 65% and 78% of nations increased the budget for at least some of the stages of basic education, while Brazil was in a minority group that did not allocate more resources to any segment of education.

The country saw resources allocated to education fall under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. The discussion about the importance of financing takes into account not only current indicators, such as performance in large-scale tests, but the history of low investments in the face of permanent deficiencies in the educational system.

The OECD report also brought worrying data about the educational trajectory of young Brazilians in comparison with other countries. Brazil has the sixth worst rate of young people aged 18 to 24 who neither study nor work, the so-called “nem-nem”.

While the OECD average is 15% of young people without working and studying, the “neithers” make up 24.4% of this age group in Brazil. Among the 42 countries and regions with data, Brazil is only ahead of South Africa, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Colombia and Chile. The Netherlands leads positively, with only 4% of young people in this situation.

The report also highlighted the small proportion of Brazilian students with access to vocational education. According to the organization, this modality is “vital” to face the challenges of the job market, but it is still perceived as a “last option” in many countries.

This is the case of Brazil, which has the third lowest number of students in vocational education. Among Brazilian students, aged 15 to 19, 11% are enrolled in the modality. The average among OECD countries is 37% in this age group.

“Very often, vocational education is seen as the alternative option for students who have difficulty studying or who have little motivation. It is not seen as a first option that can lead to attractive career trajectories”, says the document.

Almost a decade ago, Brazil set the goal of increasing the number of enrollments in technical education for students in high school. The PNE (National Education Plan) law defined that the country should have 5.2 million students in this modality by 2024.

Until last year, not even half of the target had been achieved. The 2022 School Census (latest data available) shows that the country had 2.1 million enrollments in professional courses.

The report points out that the increase in vacancies in vocational education has a potentially greater effect in countries like Brazil, where there is a higher rate of adults who have secondary education as their highest level of education.

According to the document, 14% of young adults (aged between 25 and 34) did not continue their studies after secondary education (equivalent to high school) on average for OECD countries. In Brazil, the average is 28%.