Education in Brazil

Throughout the years, Brazil has shown development in other areas of the
country, but in education, Brazil finds itself among the 35 worst ranked globally.
Although the government has increased the allowances that the education system gets
from the GDP, it has not shown any significant effect. In 2014, the government came up
with new policies to implement into the education system that is regulated by the
Ministry of Education. These new policies are expected to improve Brazils education
and will be implemented up to the year 2024. They include increasing the mandatory
education years, and providing teachers with more opportunities for improving their
qualification skills (Fujikawa, 2015).
The United Nations (UN) came up with three main priorities that they wish to
focus on for education and they expect all countries to meet these priorities. The priorities
are: Put every child in school, Improve the quality of learning, and Foster global
citizenship (Priorities). The first priority aims to remove all the barriers that keep
children from attending school. Those barriers include unaffordable costs, shortages of
classrooms, humanitarian emergencies, gender discrimination, and child labor
(Priorities). The second priority aims to remove those barriers that allow a child to go
through school and finish school without knowing the basics of academic content. Some
of those barriers include lack of materials as well as qualified teachers, language barriers,
and poor nutrition (Priorities). The third priority focuses on implementing life skills and
values into education that will allow the next generations to be involved in their
communities as engaged citizens.

Brazil has been struggling to meet the first priority because of the high levels of
poverty seen in the country. Although it is mandatory for children ages 7 through 14 to
attend school, most do not because of lack of money. Children living in poverty are
sometimes expected to work to help support their families, and are not able to attend
school. Only about one third of school children reach high school education. Poverty is
the biggest barrier that has lead to an increase of high school dropouts. In the year 2000,
Out of all the children attending school only 50% finished primary education (No longer
bottom of the class). The image below shows the percentage of people enrolled in
education by their age and gender in the year 2005. In the image you can also see the
decline in percentages from people ages 10-14 to people ages 18-19. This decline
demonstrates that most students drop out of school before they can graduate from high
school.

Retrieved November 7, 2016, from http://socialsciences.scielo.org/img/revistas/s_soc/v3nse/a03fig03.gif

As for the second priority, Brazil has not been able to improve their quality of
learning. In the year 2000, three out of 4 adults living in Brazil were found to be
functionally illiterate. In 2010, fifteen year olds were tested in math, science, and reading.
They were given tests that asked them to refer to readings, complete arithmetic problems,
and answer scientific questions. Only about 1 out of every 100 child would rank as a high
performer (No longer bottom of the class). Those results are not correlated to one specific
barrier in the education system. They could be the result of unqualified teachers, lack of
materials, language barriers, and more. The image below shows a comparison between
Brazil and other countries in assessment scores in reading, mathematics, and science.
This measurement of scores is known as Programme for International Student
Assessment Scores (PISA). The graph shows that the average score is 500 for these
subjects, yet Brazil scored way less than average in 2009. Compared to the other
countries it scored the least in all three subjects.

Retrieved November 7, 2016, from http://blogs.r.ftdata.co.uk/beyondbrics/files/2013/03/AssessmentBB.gif

Unfortunately, Brazilian schools have not been fostering global citizenship.

Brazilian culture is viewed as vibrant in its music, art, dance, and creativity. However,
this vibrant culture is often missed in schools. Most Brazilian teachers mainly focus on
teaching cognitive skills rather than sustainable values. Fortunately, there is hope for
fostering global citizenship in classrooms. Some civic societal organizations are
partnering up with the Ministry of Education in order to implement more of the Brazilian
culture and the values of the Universal Declaration of Human rights created by the United
Nations (A Brazilian View on Global Citizenship Education).
As the government continues to increase its funds on the Brazilian education
system, there will be more opportunities for students. The increase in funds can provide
more resources for schools, and more qualified teachers leading to a better education for
all.

Works Cited:
Brazil Education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2016, from
http://www.brazil.org.za/brazil-education.html
Ednir, M. (2015, January 29). A Brazilian View on Global Citizenship Education.
Retrieved November 8, 2016, from
http://www.globaleducationmagazine.com/brazilian-view-global-citizenshipeducation/
Fujikawa, C. (2015, August 12). The Brazilian Educational System. Retrieved
November 08, 2016, from http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/the-brazilianeducational-system
No longer bottom of the class. (2010, December 9). Retrieved November 8, 2016,
from
http://www.economist.com/node/17679798

Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2016, from

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/brazil/overview
Priorities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2016, from
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/gefi/priorities/