Understand what changes with the revision of the Quota Law – 08/10/2023 – Educação

After a decade in force and having changed the profile of the country’s federal universities, the Quota Law should come into force with new rules. On Wednesday night (9), the Chamber of Deputies approved the revision of the law.

To become effective, the change still depends on the approval of the Senate and the sanction of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

Among the main changes is that the law now becomes expressly permanent, with the forecast that it will be evaluated and updated every ten years. The previous formulation called for a review of the law after ten years, which created legal uncertainty about the continuity of the policy.

Another significant change in the law is that it now includes quilombolas among the groups benefited by the reservation of vacancies. It also determines that all federal universities must expand affirmative action policies for graduate studies.

“The changes in the quota law consolidate the positive advances it has brought to the country over the last ten years. They also correct specific problems that have arisen during this period. But the most important thing is that the revision makes the law permanent, removing an insecurity that existed”, says Luiz Augusto Campos, coordinator of Gemaa (Affirmative Action Multidisciplinary Studies Group).

The review of the law should have taken place last year, but it was postponed. Deputies estimate that the Chamber took a long time to approve the revision of the system because 2022 was an election year.

See the main points of change

Term

The text establishes that the Quota Law be evaluated every ten years, with annual monitoring cycles — and updated, if necessary. It also makes it clear that it is a permanent law.

It also establishes that the federal government and educational institutions create tools to systematize data that show the impacts of the law.

“In recent years, under the allegation of the LGPD [Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados], the government made it very difficult to access student data, which undermines assessments of the impact of quotas on higher education. It is important that the new law guarantees access to this data so that the results of the policy can be better monitored”, evaluates Campos.

benefited public

Quilombolas are now included among the public benefited by the law. The previous text, approved in 2012, only said that there should be reservations for self-declared blacks, browns and indigenous people.

“Although it can be argued that the quilombolas were already contemplated with the previous rule, for being included in the other groups, I evaluate that it is positive for the recognition of their representativeness. The change is important, especially after what the last census revealed” , says Campos.

Fixes for vacancies

The new text stipulates that the selection processes should first consider the scores of the competitors due to the broad competition and, later, the reservations of vacancies for quotas. The change tries to correct a distortion caused by the previous law, which made the dispute for quota holders more fierce than in the broad competition.

Created to guarantee the access of historically underrepresented groups in universities, the quota system, as implemented, can make it difficult for students who are entitled to them to enter.

The minimum score on the Enem required for approval is higher for quota holders from certain groups than for candidates enrolled in the broad competition system, such as private school students.

Another change that seeks to reduce this type of distortion is the reduction in per capita family income from 1.5 to 1 minimum wage for the reserve of 50% of quotas.

“More than 70% of students enrolled in public high schools have a family income of up to 1.5 times the minimum wage, that is, the income limit is very tolerant and makes the dispute very difficult. highest income within this group”, explains Campos.

Postgraduate

The review also determines that all federal universities expand affirmative policies for graduate courses. The previous text only spoke of actions of this type for graduation.

The new rules do not establish how the distribution of vacancies or the selection process should be, giving autonomy for each institution to establish policies that best suit their needs.