What are the
fundamental differences in the 3 Presidential Candidates in the 2014 Brazilian
Elections!
The 3 Presidential Candidates in the 2014 Brazilian
Election come from very different backgrounds. Dilma Rousseff was middle class
and a far left activist in the 70's, persecuted and imprisoned by
the military regime. She is our President today. Aécio Neves is an
upper middle class and grandson of our first Civilian President after the
military dictatorship, Tancredo Neves who died before taking office. He was
Governador of Minas Gerais State for two terms. Finally, Eduardo Campo is an
upper middle class and grandson of former Pernambuco State Governador, Miguel
Araes. He was Governador of Pernambuco State for two terms. Their parties are
PT (Labor Party), PSDB (Brazilian Social-Democracy) and PSB (Brazilian Socialism), respectively.
PT and PSDB are the two last parties to hold the presidential post in Brazil.
PSDB elected Fernando H. Cardoso for two mandates from 1995 to 2003. PT elected
Luis I. Lula for two mandates (2003 to 2011) and Dilma Rousseff (2011 to date).
Brazil has serious problems that in my opinion
derived on its core due to ONE Brazilian choice: Bad EDUCATION for the poor. You
may be wondering how a country can willingly choose BAD EDUCATION as a country
choice! This was systematically done by the military government during the dictatorship
in Brazil. Bad education means that a vast majority of the population has no knowledge
of its rights and obligations and so can be easily manipulated. EDUCATION IS
THE ONLY TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT!
Education in Brazil is truly strange. It has, like
any country, 3 levels, primary, secondary (high school) and third level
(Universities). On all levels there are public and privet schools. The strange
aspects of it are quality and access. Privet schools in the two first levels are
so much better that public ones, that everyone in Brazil dreams of having his sons and daughters studying
in a privet school. On the University level, public ones are, in most cases, much
better than privet (even that we have some very good privet Universities!).
Until recent, the only way to get into a Public University was trough an exam (vestibular)
where the 99% of the candidates were from privet schools.
How does the 3 Candidates really see education in
Brazil?
If you read the 3 manifests, they are quite
similar, simply because education is a central issue to all political campaigns.
But the key issue is what each has done while in power. The three candidates
hold offices and each could have implemented changes, but just one did.
Aécio and Eduardo public education policies in
Minas Gerais and Pernanbuco states were conducted to keep the status quo.
Public primary and secondary schools are administrated by a local or state
staff with no real improvements in quality and availability. No real change of
operation, access and administration was done. Bad salaries for teachers and
pedagogic and daily decisions left to the parents that are the result of this
same bad education system. This means that the public education system
improvement is left to those that derived from it, a vicious circle is formed
with no perspectives for real improvement.
When PT (Labor Party) came to power in 2003, it proposed
and with many difficulties, implemented a key change in the system. Today in
Brazil, there are the ENEN (High School National Exam) were all students are
encourage to take because your points will give you direct access to Public
Universities (just 50% of the seats on most Public Universities). Since the
ENEN has been in place, the numbers of student coming from public high schools
that enter Public Universities has increased yearly! Sure the numbers are not
ideal, but the path to change has been laid! When ENEN was introduced, resistance to it came from all sectors of society, the ones that most revolt me came from the Lectures at the public Universities. Some extremists said that the public University system will fall apart and disappear! These persons had no understanding that the University public education system in Brazil was created to give access to the poor to quality University education and not to be a privet club for the rich or upper middle classes! The numbers and improvements done in public education by PT government is quite vast, so if you want to know more
about it, Google it!
By law on the public first and second levels, the Federal
Government has to pass money to local and state government that administrated it.
There have been improvements, but not near enough! In my opinion, what is
missing the return of the middle class to the public education system. If law
is pass that the access to all public Universities (Local, State or Federal
Universities) will only be possible if you study the 14 years of first and
second level at a public school, the middle class in Brazil will have two
choices:
1 1) Put yours sons
and daughters on the public schools and help to improve the public education
system;
2 2) OR keep your children
on privet schools and know that you will have to pay for all your children
education.
In my opinion, the
public education in Brazil and in any country, will only work as long as the
middle class study on it, keep an eye on it and participate on his daily
administration, problems and solutions! I know that my proposal above is quite
radical and extreme, but when facing extreme circumstances, extreme measures
are needed! The return of the middle class to the public education system, as it
was prior the military dictatorship, is the only path to change and improvement
of the public education system in Brazil!
My next post will be
on Brazilian Justice System (a very unjust one!!)
All the best,
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