I won’t open the can of worms on U.S. education, simply because this blog is about Brazil, and in particular my views on Brazil, from what I have seen living in Rocinha. This post is intended to give some broad information about education in Brazil as well as outlining some of the inherent failures stemming from the current education system here. Given the enormity of education as a topic, I’ll focus on higher education this week and follow up with a post about primary and secondary another time.
Higher Education:
Like a lot of things in Brazil, there is a deep inequality entrenched in the education system. Even with some of the highest performing, best quality, public university institutions in Latin America; Brazil remains incapable of delivering equitable access to these institutions. From the few conversations I’ve had with young people here in the Favela da Rocinha about higher education, it seems there are some stark differences to the system I am used to in the United States. Logic would suggest, that in a system of mixed public and private Universities, the rich would largely attend the private Institutions, with the poor taking advantage of the free service offered the State. Here in Brazil, that doesn’t happen. Let me quickly try to outline why.
The public universities are often the highest quality. Unlike the secondary education system in the United States, where high income families often choose to send their children to a private school in search for a better quality of education, the demand for enrolment at Brazil’s Public Universities is fierce, to say the least. As a result, and similar to the situation we have in the U.S., the smartest minds are accepted at the best universities. But, where do these smart minds come from? Of course, they come from all the best private secondary education schools. So, to cut an incredibly long and complex story short, the richest most well-educated people go to university for free whilst the poorer, less educated portion of the population actually pay to attend the LESS prestigious institutions. Absolutely ridiculous, I know! I mean, obviously, there are people who buck the trend and manage to make it to their desired institution, even if the odds were stacked against them. Nevertheless, the idea that the state, an institution that I believe should be there to help those that are disadvantaged, is actually using its limited budgetary funds to strengthen a sector of society that simply doesn’t need the financial assistance, is nothing short of outrageous. Meanwhile there are low income students from Favelas working every hour god sends outside of class to finance their own tuition.
Here’s a few stats, a little outdated so I’m sure they’ve improved to an extent, but at least they give you an idea. In 1996, the cost of a higher education student was 12.8 times higher than that of a student in basic education and 9.9 times higher than someone in secondary school. Given that it is the lower quintiles of society economically that are using public basic and secondary education and the upper quintiles that are using higher education, this distortion is quite simply a joke and a real reflection of the hard work that needs doing to reform education in Brazil. Having met and taught English to people who have been on the wrong end of this sort of inequality has only reinforced my belief that this is a fundamental area of Brazilian education policy that needs to change and change fast.
It’s a difficult position to be in, as how do you increase access to these institutions? The answer lies in improving the quality of public primary and secondary education. This poses a range of issues, often regarding budgets. Brazil already spends 5% of its GNP on education, which is the same level as Spain, Italy and Japan and above Chile and Argentina. So, do you sacrifice the competence of the Universities to increase access by cutting their budgets, or do you simply take money from other areas of the budget external to education. With the demands for better infrastructure rife in Brazil and the financial strain of the Olympics and World Cup kicking in, it is certainly a big question that needs answering.
Jennifer Kim 