The education journey – 10/26/2023 – Priscilla Bacalhau

A year ago, Brazilians were reaching the end of a tortuous electoral process. With the victory of the PT candidate, the only viable option to defeat Bolsonarism at the time, a large part of the population was eager to rebuild several sectors that had regressed in previous years.

During the previous government, one sector in particular suffered several changes of ministers, tumultuous management of the health crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption of established programs. In fact, this description can refer to more than one area, including health, but I am referring to the area of ​​education. Almost a year later, it is now possible to start taking stock of what has been built.

Highlighted as one of the priorities for basic education, the National Literacy Child Commitment was launched in June, with the aim of promoting a collaboration regime between federated entities to guarantee literacy for all children, in addition to restoring the learning of older children. The entities that joined needed to develop and publish their literacy policy, which then had its actions monitored by the MEC.

The Full-Time School Program is another action that depends on the adherence and collaboration of federated entities. With the aim of promoting full-time enrollment, the initiative is inspired by evidence that indicates the effectiveness of comprehensive education in improving learning results. Since 16% of municipalities did not join the program, the MEC will redistribute 17% of the total 1 million registrations that were not agreed upon to the entities that did.

In addition to the structuring policies for basic education, attention is also drawn to efforts to advance the issue of equity, starting with the restructuring of the Department of Continuing Education, Literacy, Diversity and Inclusion, which was abolished under the previous government. For higher education, the new Quota Law was approved this week in the Senate, improved with more inclusive aspects.

In other areas, however, the pace is still far from ideal. For secondary education, the government spoke with civil society and sent a bill to Congress this week that increases the minimum number of hours for basic general education. But students who are completing high school will bear the losses of an education that was hampered by the implementation of the previous policy.

Therefore, closely monitoring the government’s actions is essential to concentrate efforts on restoring learning, always seeking the integral development of all students.

LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access five free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.