Education policy in Brazil
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| Minister of Education | José Henrique Paim |
|---|---|
| Budget | approx US$70,000,000 |
| Primary languages | Portuguese |
| Male | 88.4% (over 15) |
| Female | 88.8% (over 15; 2004 est.) |
Education policy in Brazil has been given importance by the federal and local governments since 1995. At that time, the government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the Brazilian Ministry of Education began to pursue three areas of national education policy:
According to the World Bank, these national education policies have tracked with global best practice, and implementation has been sustained and effective in improving performance and outcomes of education in Brazil. Though Brazil has made significant strides in improving labor force skills, Brazil is below average with respect to learning levels, secondary completion rates, and student flow efficiency, when compared to OECD and other middle-income countries. In addition, non-attendance rates and drop-out rates have also been on the increase. Moreover, these factors are especially high in lower income areas where the quality of education largely remains below the expected levels. These have been the recent targets of education policy.
The Brazilian federal government legislates direction for national education, develops national educational plans, and provides technical and financial assistance to the states, the Federal District, and to municipalities for the development of educational systems. The Federal Constitution of Brazil outlines the educational rights of Brazilian citizens in Title VIII, Chapter III, Section 1.
To reduce inequality and variation in per student spending between different regions and schools, in 1996, the government introduced and expanded education finance equalization policies, in particular through the creation of FUNDEF (1996–2006) and FUNDEB (2006–present), both of which entailed policies about allocation of education funding and increases in overall funding of education.
The Fund for Maintenance and Development of the Fundamental Education and Valorization of Teaching (Fundo para Manutenção e Desenvolvimento do Ensino Fundamental e Valorização do Magistério (FUNDEF)) was introduced in 1996 to reform the funding of education in Brazil. It was established to make sure that money mandated by the constitution is actually spent on education and to establish a per student spending floor for the whole country. The policy mandated redistribution of funds within states across municipalities, so that all municipalities could reach the per student spending requirement. Additionally, federal government then supplemented spending in states and municipalities that could not afford the national spending floor. Finally, FUNDEF required that 60% of spending go towards teacher salaries and 40% go towards school operations.
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