education in Brazil

Education in Brazil begins with the arrival of the Portuguese, when priests assumed the role of catechists and teachers of the Indians.

Thus, history has its beginning marked by the relationship established between religion and literacy, until the Jesuits were expelled from the country in 1759.

Only many years later did the responsibility for education fall to the State. But the teachers were not prepared to teach.

People who had simply received some instruction became teachers, most of whom were priests.

The democratization of education was finally leveraged in 1920. Anísio Teixeira was important in combating the restriction of education to a minority, as well as the relationship between education and religion.

History of Education

Colonial Brazil

Formal education in Brazil began in 1549 when Father Manuel da Nóbrega arrived in the country. Literacy was restricted to boys, who learned to read and write while converting to Christianity.

The Jesuits' main objective was the propagation of religious teachings to their students, from whom they expected total obedience.

In 1759 the Marquis of Pombal expelled the Jesuits and imposed new rules. Education became state.

Read Society of Jesus.

In 1760, although there was no specific teacher training, there was a competition for teachers. The fact that there was no training made many priests become teachers, which maintained the proximity between religion and education.

But the classes officially started 14 years later, that is, in 1774. In that long interval, private teachers taught the children of families that had this possibility in financial terms.

There was a title of nobility reserved for teachers, who were also exempt from some taxes. Despite this, they were not properly compensated.

The classes were called royal classes, but after the resignation of the Marquis of Pombal D. Maria I changed the name to public classes.

Imperial Brazil

In the imperial period it was very difficult to pass the teacher exam. Needing to increase the teaching staff, the State admitted unqualified teachers, but paid them less.

The difficulty, however, was rewarded with the guarantee of a lifetime position, despite the fact that the remuneration was not worth it.

It was only in 1835 that the first teacher training schools appeared. However, moral and religious values ​​were the most valued, even more than the knowledge held by the teachers.

The vast majority did not recognize the importance of education. For this reason, parents did not send their children to school at age 5, as recommended by the reform, or as soon as they were literate, they were withdrawn from school.

Brazil Republic

Benjamin Constant organized a reform in education, which contemplated the division by grades and according to age groups.

It is at this point that the figure of the school director appears, a position occupied by men.

The state pressured teachers to comply with the school program and not fail students, which resulted in overspending and student dropout.

Among other educators, Anísio Teixeira was one of the pioneers of the new pedagogy. She fought the restriction of education to the elites and the religious approach.

In 1939, the Pedagogy course was created at the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUC-Campinas).

Paulo Freire, one of the greatest pedagogues in the world, proposes works in popular education.

In 1971, education began to be organized into primary, junior high and high school, and compulsory until the age of 14.

Updates

After so much time, the precariousness in education is one of the social problems of our country. This is because there are children who still do not have access to formal education or the school they attend is crowded and offers few conditions. As a result, these children have fewer opportunities.

One of the biggest problems is that Brazil does not invest in education adequately, despite investing more in education than some developed countries.

In addition to the financial issue, for example, situations of embezzlement.

In addition to these issues, teacher training is also at stake. The truth is that there are teachers teaching subjects for which they have not received training, as well as little incentive in terms of remuneration.

Finally, among the situations that require more attention are the reform of secondary education, the national common curriculum base (BNCC) and the crisis in higher education.

Data

According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), between 2007 and 2014 there was a decrease in illiteracy and an increase in schooling for children between 6 and 14 years old. The level of Brazilian education also grew during the same period.

Illiteracy rate of people aged 10 to 14, by sex:

Source:IBGE, Research Directorate, Work and Income Coordination, National Household Sample Survey 2007/2015.
However, when the subject is analyzed further, we are faced with the following reality, according to 2011 data provided by the Paulo Montenegro Institute:

- 27% of Brazilians are functionally illiterate (they can read, but do not understand the meaning of what they read)
- 4% of higher education students are considered functionally illiterate

In the OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), Brazil ranks 63rd, 59th and 66th in science, reading and mathematics respectively.

Interested? See also:

• Illiteracy in Brazil
• School Inclusion:Concept and Challenges
• LDB (updated in 2019)
• Lesson plan (how-to, template and examples)