USP strike: promised teachers were not hired – 04/06/2024 – Education

Five months after the end of the strike motivated by the shortage of teachers, USP (University of São Paulo) did not fulfill its main promise to students: the hiring of 148 temporary teachers. Until February this year, there were only 12, which corresponds to 8% of the total predicted.

In negotiations to end the movement, which took place between September and November 2023, the rectory promised to admit educators by December. They would join another 879 permanent vacancies already planned until 2025.

According to a survey carried out by Adusp (Association of Teachers of the University of São Paulo), based on the payrolls available on the Transparency Portal, only 7 of the 42 faculties —in the capital and in the interior— had hired temporary employees from September 2023 until February this year. year.

In a note, the rectory states that there were no changes in relation to the distribution of vacancies, released as mentioned at the end of last year.

“The process of filling these vacancies is the responsibility of the units and goes through legal and regulatory procedures, including internal distribution, which can take time. In addition to having several stages, competitions also need to go through discussions in collegial meetings and respect regulatory deadlines mandatory”, states the management of Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Júnior.

According to Adusp, of the 12 promised hires, three were made at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, two at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, two at the Faculty of Dentistry of Bauru and two at the School of Engineering of São Carlos.

In addition, there was one at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, one at the Lorena School of Engineering and one at the Institute of Physics.

Of the units that did not hire, 16 lost temporary teachers. Among them are the FEA (Faculty of Engineering and Administration), the ECA (School of Communication and Arts), the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Education, the FFLCH (Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences) and the Polytechnic School, known as Poli.

In the case of permanent teachers, hiring progressed more. By February, 70 new ones had arrived. The number corresponds to 8% of the 879 vacancies expected by the end of next year.

At some colleges, however, no new professors were added to the staff. The most striking case is that of Poli, which still lost four professionals from September to February. The school joined the student strike last year after two decades without participating in this type of protest.

In the period from 2020 to 2023, the unit responsible for engineering courses received 42 vacancies, filling nine. Another 12 positions were made available by the rectory after the 2023 strike. To date, none have been put out to competition.

The head of Poli’s hiring department, Gustavo Cubas Gusmão, explains that simply granting the vacancy does not authorize the process to be carried out immediately.

According to him, after receiving the position, the unit must collectively decide on its destination department. With the approved distribution, the process for opening the notice is made possible, for which registrations must be open for 30 to 120 days.

The unit’s director, Reinaldo Giudici, says the steps are complex. “For example, just the discussion about the distribution of clear [professores temporários] between departments can take months, […] in addition to the risk of taking tests without a nominee or with withdrawal. We had three cases last year.”

Quite easily, says the manager, the complete process for hiring a teacher can take more than a year. This would explain why they have managed to fill only nine vacancies so far.

The lack of teachers causes problems in some colleges. At the beginning of this year, students on the German course, under the responsibility of the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences, complained about canceled classes.

Graduates from the School of Dramatic Art, one of the most important theater teaching institutions in Latin America, are also without activities. In crisis, the school has just five teachers for a total of 80 students.

In the last two decades, USP has increased the number of students enrolled without guaranteeing the same pace in hiring teachers. In 2002, the institution had 0.07 educators for each enrollee, on average. In 2022, the number dropped to 0.05.

In between, the number of undergraduate and postgraduate students increased from 70,563, in 2002, to 93,040, in 2022 (an increase of almost 32%). The number of teachers was increased by just 5%, from 4,804 to 5,043.