USP: Teacher-to-student ratio drops 28% since 2002 – 09/26/2023 – Education

In the last two decades, USP (University of São Paulo) has increased the number of students enrolled without guaranteeing the same pace in hiring teachers. Thus, the ratio of teacher to student decreased by 28% in the period.

In 2002, the institution had 0.07 educators for each enrollee, on average. In 2022, the number dropped to 0.05. The data was obtained by the Teachers’ Association from the university’s statistical yearbook.

In a statement, the USP rectory says it is making an effort to hire new professionals. “Last year, we made 879 vacancies available for hiring teachers, granted based on the demands presented by the units themselves”, says the note. “We have 641 vacancies to fill and 238 have already been filled.”

The situation is the result of the increase in the number of students in the early 2000s, followed by years of financial crisis and, later, the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevented new hires.

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.

As a result, some colleges have already had to cancel mandatory subjects due to a lack of teachers, even causing delays in graduations.

The situation has been going on for years, but now students and some teachers have decided to demand speed in hiring. Last week, students and professors from some departments, led by FFLCH (Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences), announced a strike.

The humanities unit is one of the departments where the lack of admissions had the most serious effects. In the period between 2014 and 2022, the teaching staff was reduced from 478 to 396. It is 0.03 teachers per student.

Almost a year ago, FFLCH received 70 vacancies to hire new teachers in its courses. Of these, however, only ten were completed. In an interview with Sheetthe director of the unit, Paulo Martins, stated that he will hold the remaining competitions until the end of his term, in September 2024.

Martins also criticized the strike, which he called “senseless”, and said that representatives of the student movement use “the same weapons as the Bolsonarist right: they offend and naturalize the use of force”. Martins exchanged insults with students on the 18th, when classrooms were locked to prevent an occupation.

In response, the FFLCH academic centers said that Martins is trying to delegitimize the academic struggle and that the number of hires proposed by the rectory is insufficient.

In the humanities course alone, they say, 114 hires are needed for the disciplines and qualifications to work at a minimum, according to a survey by the USP Teachers’ Association.

Until 2014, USP followed a policy of expanding vacancies and hiring teachers. From that year onwards, the university reached the height of a financial crisis and stopped hiring new teachers and employees to balance its cash flow, as the institution spent more on payroll alone than it received from the São Paulo government.

After a series of containment measures, USP managed to balance its accounts and intended to hire new teachers in 2020, but, with the pandemic, all hiring was prohibited.

Elected at the end of 2021 by the academic community, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Júnior took over as rector of USP, with his main promises being the resumption of hiring and the recovery of salaries. Still in 2022, the dean announced the hiring of 879 professionals, in stages, until 2025.

However, as the impact of the lack of teachers has hampered teaching, students are pressing for vacancies to be released immediately.

According to the rectory, hiring was released in three stages, but units where the situation is more problematic can request that competitions be brought forward to the beginning of next year, on February 3rd.