EDUCATION IN BRAZIL
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Education in Brazil
Overview
UNICEF is a global organization which was formed in 1946, after World War II. Since then, the main aim of UNICEF was to serve as a relief organization to children. According to UNESCO (2016), every child should have a right to basic education but there are 781 million illiterate people in the world, 58 million of who are not enrolled in primary school. Today, UNICEF employs more than 7,000 people who work in 157 countries and territories, helping children around the world. 90% of the people partner with national and local governments and other partners to bring UNICEFs mission to life.
Brazil is one of the most populous countries, ranking fifth in the world, with 195 million people. Around one third of the population in Brazil is under the age of 18. This clearly shows that besides health, education is the largest priority for the government. UNICEF has been involved in Brazil since 1950 and has helped in the country’s development and protection of children’s rights. It has played a key role in helping government frame education policy and extending the compulsory education age ranging from 4-17 years from 6-14 years. UNICEF has closely linked itself to school feeding programs too (UNICEF, 2016). The National Education Plan was finally processed by the government in June 2014. The government commitment details out a new future for Brazil with the help of education. Typically, Brazil has seen differences in the access to quality education in urban and rural areas. The enrolment rates in rural areas being lower than the urban areas. For example, the gross enrolment was just about 40% in the primary schools in total (Childinfo, 2008). In addition there is a wide discrepancy in the education for white Brazilians versus Afro Brazilian and indigenous children (Rehder, 2016). Many challenges persist – like high dropout rates of teen mothers and pregnant girls, budget cuts to the National Plan and so on. A key advocacy program in partnership with UNCIEF was implemented in 2010 by Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education. It is called Fora da Escola não Pode! And its objective is to return out of school children back to school.
Though the Brazilian economy is in the top 10, it faces many social challenges. UNICEF is helping to bring social equality by advocating rights for children and adolescents, irrespective of race, gender, color, status, place of birth and so on. It focuses on three main areas in Brazil – the semi arid region, Amazon region, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. UNICEF faced many challenges, especially in the Amazon area. It works with many partners and has set up a new programme called EducAmazônia – to help deliver quality education to children in isolated areas (Adams, 2010). It not only helps teachers, but also provides resources and transport to children to get to school. UNICEF has customized many programs in Brazil based on the needs of children and building curricula for teachers to train on.
The strategy in Brazil involved assessment of the literacy and writing skill levels of children in second and third grades. UNICEF has then helped build the right curriculum and trained the teachers based on these surveys.
This has lead to positive enrolments, and focused teaching and learning methodologies.
The Innovations in Education program has been very successful with more than 70% of the participating children reaching the planned levels of literacy. The children were able to read and comprehend many texts by end of one year (Hughes, 2015).
UNICEF has been able to improve the state of the education system in Brazil. More needs to be done in terms of analyzing trends and the socio-economic effects on school enrolments. Innovations in learning including use of technology will play a key role in Brazil’s growth.
References
Adams, F. 2010. The United Nations in Latin America: Aiding Development, 2010, Routledge, New York.
Childinfo. 2008. ‘Education Statistics Brazil’, childinfo.org. [Online], Retrieved 10 March 2016 from: http://www.childinfo.org/files/LAC_Brazil.pdf.
Hughes C. 2015. ‘UNICEF Addresses Education Challenges’, Borgen, [Online], Retrieved 10 March 2016 from: http://www.borgenmagazine.com/unicef-addresses-education-challenges/
Rehder M. 2016. ‘Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education’, flexlearnstrategies, [Online], Retrieved 10 March 2016 from: flexlearnstrategies.net/Summit/ppts/s1/c/3.pptx.
UNESCO. 2016. ‘Education for All’. UNESCO, [Online], Retrieved 10 March 2016 from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/brasilia/education/education-for-all/
UNICEF. 2016. ‘Brazil’. UNICEF, [Online],
Retrieved 10 March 2016 from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/brazil.html.
