Tarcísio prepares new technical education with 100 thousand vacancies – 06/09/2023 – Education

Although the State of São Paulo already has two technical education models of its own, the government administration Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) plans to open 100,000 places in a new type of professional education within state schools in São Paulo.

The government should publish in the next few days a decree reorganizing Seduc (State Secretary of Education), in which it creates the Coordination of Professional Education, which will be responsible for managing the new model.

The proposal provides for the provision of technical courses within the current structure of regular schools. Classes will be face-to-face and taught by professionals, who are not necessarily professors, but who work in the area of ​​the courses.

Management is betting on this new model to quickly expand the number of enrollments in technical education in need of increasing investment in education. The expansion of vacancies in this modality is one of Tarcísio’s main promises for the area, with the goal of offering this option to half of the approximately 1.5 million high school students by the end of his term.

With the new format, the government breaks with the policy that has been in practice for decades in the state, with the concentration of investments in technical and professional education in the CPS (Centro Paula Souza).

The autarchy, responsible for 224 etecs (technical schools) that have around 140,000 students enrolled only in technical education integrated into secondary education, is known for having educational results superior to those of the regular state network. Despite the teaching offered being considered of excellence, there has been no significant expansion of the network in recent years.

It also stopped investing in Novotec, a program created during the João Doria administration, in which CPS technical courses started to be offered in regular state schools. Around 35,000 students are enrolled in this format.

The State Board of Education issued an opinion warning of the risk of the new model compromising the quality of technical education in São Paulo.

In the document, the council considers it more “wise to concentrate efforts and invest in the partnership with the Paula Souza Center, strengthening its teams” than to pass the management of part of the technical education to Seduc, disregarding the expertise of decades of the autarchy.

“The proposal by the Secretary of Education to create a new coordination to manage the technical schools needs to take into account that the Paula Souza Center already performs this function with quality, without the need to create an additional structure, with positions, salaries and the requirement of develop a new team”, says the document.

“By fragmenting the management of technical schools, there is a risk of losing synergy and compromising educational quality. The Paula Souza Center has specialized teams, with trained professionals, who know the reality and demands of technical schools”, continues the opinion.

The council also warns Seduc that the creation of new technical schools needs to take into account the shortage of qualified professionals to work as teachers in this modality. “The hiring and training of teachers demand time, resources and adequate infrastructure, factors that must be taken into account when planning the expansion of technical education.”

Despite not yet having announced details about the new model, what the classes will be like and which schools will offer it, in recent weeks the folder has started a consultation with students of the 1st year of high school about their interest in attending technical education.

Students from São Paulo, for example, have been consulted about their interest in joining courses such as sales technician, systems development technician and even basic education technician. The latter does not even appear in the National Catalog of Technical Courses, a document prepared by the Ministry of Education that is a normative reference for the modality throughout the country.

The Secretary of Education, Renato Feder, chose the expansion of technical education as one of his priorities at the head of the portfolio. He argues that the modality, integrated into high school, will make the school more attractive to young people with the promise that they will complete more qualified studies for the job market.

Before taking office in São Paulo, Feder was in charge of education in Paraná and doubled the number of vacancies in technical education in the state in just one year. For the expansion, he hired a model in which classes were broadcast to students on a television inside the classroom. The format generated a series of protests and had to be canceled the following year.

“Public education is always a victim of political immediacy. There is no point in expanding a teaching modality without quality, without investment. the future of young people”, says Fernando Cássio, professor of public policies at UFABC.

questioned by Sheet On the reason for not expanding vacancies in partnership with Centro Paula Souza, Seduc only said that the preparation of course plans and curricular proposals have been made with the support of the autarchy. It also did not say how many teachers should be hired or the expected amount to invest in the model.

“The new coordination will be responsible for implementing these new courses, which are offered in the state education network. The portfolio estimates that 100,000 enrollments will already be available from 2024”, he said in a note.