Ensino Médio: Secondary Education in Brazil

Hanna Mincemoyer

Strong Performers and Successful Reformers

 

Introduction

Once students have completed their Fundamental Education they are allowed to enroll in secondary education, or ensino médio. Ensino médio loosely means middle education or middle school but corresponds to what we think of as high school. Occasionally grades 5-8 are considered “lower secondary” and are included in ensino médio, but they are actually ensino fundamental. The “upper secondary” education in Brazil is grades 9 to 11 and usually takes three years complete and requires a bare minimum of 2,200 hours of schooling. Students enter secondary education around age 15 and most complete it by the time they turn 17. The literacy rate for people age 15 to 17 is 84.1% as of 2006. Local and state governments are responsible for establishing education programs that follow the guidelines and use the funding supplied by the federal government. The state governments provide the public schools for secondary education so the schooling is free, but it is not mandatory.

The upper secondary education courses can be conducted either at the public or private school the child has been attending up until this point, or at specific colleges that prepare the students to take a specific entrance exam set by a specific university. In 1997, the public sector accounted for 85% of lower and upper secondary school enrollments with the private sector accounting for 15%. The private school enrollment for secondary education has remained fairly steady with 13% enrollment in 2009. The private sector participation increases as the students get older, accounting for about 20% of upper secondary enrollments and more than a third of all upper secondary education establishments. It is also possible to take professional training courses that last two years along with the regular Secondary Education track. These extra classes usually mean having more instructional hours per week and potentially taking a fourth year to complete.

History and Achievement

Until the year 1971, ensino médio had three different names: curso científico, curso normal and curso clássico. In 1971, it was united under the name segundo grau, which was eventually changed to ensino médio in 1996. The unification of these three names under the title of ensino médio helped to create a national standard for secondary education. At this time in Brazil the illiteracy rate was around 25%. It was clear that improvements needed to be made to the current education system and the overall education of the Brazilian population.

Between 1980 and 2000, in the 15 to 17 age demographic, the enrollment rate rose from 49.7% to 83%. While there have been significant advances in the past few years, it is very common for students to repeat grades and display poor academic achievement. The results of the national assessment test (SAEB) in 1997 reflected that only 52% of 8^th graders and 26% of 11^th graders were achieving at the expected level for their grade in Portuguese. One contributing factor to these academic problems was the high levels of absenteeism in Brazilian secondary schools. The graph below reflects a positive achievement trend for students who are just entering upper secondary school (students 15 years old). Many critics are demanding more progress, pointing out that the recent progress merely upgrades Brazil’s schools from disastrous to very bad. Backing up this assertion is the fact that two-thirds of 15 year olds are capable of no more than basic arithmetic.

Curriculum

The core curriculum for secondary education is made up of Portuguese, foreign language, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy and sociology. The language education is delivered in is Portuguese, the official national language. During the military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985, philosophy and sociology were banned. They only recently became required classes again. The 1996 Education Law defines three objectives for secondary education: academic preparation, acquisition of tools for citizenship, and preparation for employment.

Unlike other countries, Brazilian students don’t have a final test to conclude studies. Their approval depends only on their final grade on each subject. Most universities create their own test to select and accept new students. One standardized test, the Vestibular, generally happens once a year and universities often evaluate these scores as well. Enem, a non-mandatory national exam, evaluates high school students in Brazil and is used to rank both private and public schools.

School Environment

Secondary education enrollments in Brazil amount to approximately 20 million students; 13 million in lower secondary and 7 million in upper secondary. Brazilian secondary school students are referenced by their year meaning they are called 1st, 2nd or 3rd year students. Often grades 5 to 11 are within one school building, blurring the distinction between early secondary and late secondary schooling. The educational year begins in February/March and finishes in December; institutions are permitted to define their own actual start and end dates. They must, however, provide at least 200 days of classes per year. The school year is generally divided into two semesters, the first from March through mid-July and the second from August through mid-December. Secondary schooling is sometimes provided during both the day and at night. The night school is very attractive for students enrolled in upper secondary education because they are able to hold a full time job at the same time. Around 60% of students enrolled in upper secondary school were enrolled in night school as of 2001.

The lack of funds and social problems Brazil is continually faced with contribute to poor attendance from the students, especially those in public schools. There is a large divide in resources available for students attending schools in wealthier areas versus schools in underprivileged areas. In 2001, 60% of the schools catering predominantly to wealthy students had computers while only 20% of the schools attended mostly by the poor were equipped with computers. This statistic reflects how the student make-up of a school can change the quality of education received. 

Demographics of Brazil

Carnival in Rio

by Marcy Herr

Race and ethnicity: To describe the race and ethnicity of Brazil it is first important to understand the difference between these terms. Race is defined as each of the major divisions of humankind with distinguishing physical characteristics. Ethnicity is the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition. In Brazil, the ethnic group is composed of the following populations: 48.43% white, 43.80% mulatto (black and white mixed), 6.84% black and the remaining ~1% includes Japanese, Arab and Amerindian.

The diversity within the population in Brazil is due to the immigration that occurred to fulfill the need for workers in the coffee cultivation industry. Following the end of African slavery, immigration from other areas of the world increased. Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards, and Germans came from Europe, and later immigrants from other South American countries and Japan came to Brazil for work. It is said that there is no “typical Brazilian” because Brazil is such a melting pot of races from all around the world.

The following video demonstrates the variety of races and ethnicities that inhabit Brazil.

Brazil has a population of over 201 million ranking it 5th largest in population size worldwide. In the past 50 years Brazil has seen a decrease in fertility which has led to a slowing population growth rate, aging population and a shift in the demographics.

Religion: Brazil is a very religious country comprised of a variety of religions but predominantly Roman Catholic. 73.6% of the Brazilian population is Roman Catholic, 15.4% Protestant, 1.3% Spiritualist, other about 2% and no religion about 7%. As of 2007, Brazil had the second highest Christian population in the world.

The following link shows a short video example of what a typical Catholic church in Brazil looks like as well as parts of their religious ceremonies.

Urbanization: The urban population in Brazil makes up about 87% of the total population and the rate of urbanization is 1.1%. Over 20 million Brazilians immigrated from rural to urban areas in the period from 1950 to 1970 as cities really became developed and expanded. Urbanization slowed down around 1980 as Brazil was going through difficult economic times actually resulting in a emigration movement. The urbanization movement was so strong that the government had to create policies to limit growth in the large cities and encourage development to smaller ones instead. Currently 75% of people live on or near the coastline in cities, leaving much of the country uninhabited.

Language: The official language of Brazil is Portuguese which can be explained due to the influx of Portuguese speaking immigrants. Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world and the only one in the Americas.

Culture: Rio Carnival is a great demonstration of the diverse culture of Brazil. Carnival highlights the beauty of ethnic traditions and brings them all together in a four day celebration ending on fat Tuesday, the day before ash Wednesday. This festival allows Brazilians to party and celebrate before sacrificing bodily pleasures for Lent. Carnivals are held all over Brazil, but the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the largest and most elaborate celebration. Carnival resembles a parade, and participants dress in costumes while singing and dancing. Each group of dancers is competing with their samba school and the judges observe a number of them throughout the four day event. Many of the participants from these samba schools live in the favelas, or slums of Brazil, and Carnival is something highly anticipated by them. Carnival really brings all sects of a community together to celebrate the culture and heritage of Brazil. Brazilians are expected to forget about social and class differences during the celebration. Originally brought to Brazil in 1850 from Portugal, this holiday has truly expanded to be a fabulous demonstration of many aspects of Brazilian culture.

Rio Carnival video:

It’s difficult to capture such a diverse culture in a short summary. The people of Brazil, although from so many countries around the world are united by their pride in their rich culture. Vibrant, friendly and generous are all used to describe Brasileiros who enjoy living a slow paced life. They take their time and try to enjoy the moment rather than rushing through life. Emphasis is put on relationships and family rather than inanimate objects. The culture of Brazil can be demonstrated in a variety of ways including art, music, theatre, literature, poetry and of course football. Culture is celebrated through Carnival, but Brasileiros enjoy dancing and partying with friends and family anytime.

Sources

http://www.rio-carnival.net

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/445

http://countrystudies.us/brazil/29.htm

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html

http://www.kidscornerbrazil.org/content/people.php

Ensino Fundamental: Elementary Education in Brazil_by Jennifer Lee

The Basic Structure of Elementary Education in Brazil

Elementary or primary education in Brazil, called ensino fundamental, is free and mandatory for Brazilian children and youths aged 6 through 14. The primary school structure is divided into two levels; the first 5 grades, or years 1 through 5, and the following three grade levels, or years 5 through 9. During the first 5 years of schooling, students are usually assisted by a single teacher for the entire day while the older kids have teachers for each subject (World Education Forum, 2000). The compulsory 9 year-long program for elementary education in Brazil became effective in 2005 under a reformed law that extended the years of required schooling for all children. Considering the recent implementation of the new school years and the federal government system of the country, expanding elementary school enrollment is still in process to achieve the national goal (Portal Brasil, 2010). Similar to the education system in the United States, majority authority to control elementary schools is entrusted to municipalities and states (UNESCO-IBE, 2010).  However, the curriculum taught in classrooms is structured around a common core established by the national government.  Common core subjects include language arts (Portuguese), social studies (history and geography), science (mathematics, and natural), art, psychical and health education, as well as social life and ethics. The Ministry of Education, which is a federal body, regulates the overall education in Brazil, defining the guiding principles for the basic organization of the programs; states and municipalities are then responsible to implement the principles while incorporating additional materials to accommodate the local and regional needs. Education is stated as a constitutional right under Brazil’s most recent constitution written in 1988. The constitution requires states and municipals to spend 25% of their revenues and education and 18% at the federal level (Pearson Foundation, 2013).

The elementary school year in Brazil starts during the summer time, which is around the month of February for a country in the southern hemisphere. The constitution mandates schools to operate at least 200 days of schooling per year, but specific yearly schedules are left to individual schools to decide (AngloINFO, 2013). Generally across the nation, regardless of public or private, an academic day in schools are divided into three sessions: running approximately from 7:00am to 12:00pm, 12:00pm to 5:00pm, and 5:00pm to 10:00pm. A student is required to only attend one session per day. The particular system was implemented in an effort to accommodate the growing number of enrolled children in schools (AngloINFO, 2013).

According to Brazil’s national estimates recorded in 2011 UNESCO International Bureau of Education report, 96.5% of children aged 7 to 14 were enrolled in primary school. This has been a remarkable growth in Brazil, which historically had a low level of educational outcomes compared to other countries of the same economic development level (World Education Forum, 2000). In fact, during the years of 1991 to 1998, net schooling rate of the population aged 7 through 14 increased from 86% to 95.3% overall (World Education Forum, 2000). The vast majority of these kids are enrolled in public schools while around 12% of them are enrolled in private schools (Portal Brasil, 2010). Although Brazil’s successful effort to spread mass schooling is positive news to the developing society, major concerns have risen regarding the quality of education for elementary aged students in public schools. The main issue identified by policymakers is that the dramatic increase in enrollment rate was not consistently aided with expanding facilities and increase in the number of teachers (Otis, 2013). According to the School Census in 2007, about 87% of the teachers in the first years of ensino fundamental had met the legal minimum qualification requirements, and only 50% of them had higher education qualification in pedagogy (UNESCO-IBE, 2010).

Problems of Inequality in Brazilian Primary Education

Brazil’s education system at a national level has been historically marked with vast inequality. The beginning of modern education and inequality of schooling traces back to the 19th century when the European immigrants arrived and founded their own private and religious schools. Such private schools excelled in quality while the public schools remained in extremely poor conditions (Otis, 2013). Immigrant children from Africa along with children of poor natives attended public school and even so the attendance rate was very low. Universal coverage in education began in Brazil during the last decade of the 20^th century with which expansion of mass schooling proliferated (Rios-Neto & de Miereles Guimaraes, 2010). Although the expansion of funding for all schools successfully increased enrollment and academic gains on the international level, the issue of unequal quality among schools continues to persist today (Otis, 2013).  One of the major forces driving this inequality is the fact that the expansion of public schools were not sufficiently assisted with additional facilities and teacher supplies; thus when higher socioeconomic status parents perceived the quality of public schools fall,  they chose to send their kids to private and religious schools. Recognizing this problem, the government has set out several initiatives to increase funding and resources to improve the quality of public schools and narrow the gap.

Recent Reforms in Brazil’s Elementary Education

A major improvement in the government investment into Brazil’s elementary education has been the striking increase in the government expenditure for each pupil over the last decade. Between 2000 and 2008, the government increased its expenditure per student from primary to upper secondary education by 121% (OECD, 2011). A large proportion of the budget has been directed towards improving the teacher quality in schools. Teacher’s salary was raised substantially and the minimum entry qualifications for those entering the teaching profession were raised in order to extract qualified, intelligent individuals into classrooms (Pearson Foundation, 2013).

A primary focuses of today’s elementary education in Brazil is the reliance on assessments for evaluation (Pearson Foundation, 2013). Similar to the state level assessments that are required in U.S. public schools under the No Child Left Behind Act provisions, Brazilian elementary students participate in an exam to be evaluated of their educational skills (Portal Brasil, 2010). Although there are monetary stipends associated with school level achievement scores, education policy makers in Brazil view and conduct the exam as a way to identify student needs in order to prevent the child from reaching the next grade level without mastering the skills (Pearson Foundation, 2013). The Ministry of Education developed a Basic Education Development Index (IDEB), which is a system that tracks schools’ performance and progress. Recently, the Ministry has begun tracking progress of schools in order to identify best practices of teaching and improvement and share them with other states. Local municipalities are encouraged to be creative and flexible in developing their methods to increase student performance and quality of schools. These collaborative efforts at the federal, state, and municipal levels have led to an impressive increase in Brazil’s international performance measured in the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA (Pearson Foundation, 2013). Educational reforms continue to take place throughout the different levels of the system in order to improve the quality of elementary schools in Brazil.

Video link:  http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/oecd/brazil.html