Brazilians spend more years studying now, study finds

The number of years Brazilians spend studying has increased. The average went from 8.9 years in 2016 to 9.3 years in 2018. Since 2016, this average has been seen to grow 0.2 a year.

Among the women, the rate stood at 9.5 years, compared to 9 years among men. The difference among white, brown, and black people is clear. White people showed a 10.3 year average, whereas the number falls to 8.4 for black and brown people, a difference of nearly two years that has held steady since 2016.

The figures come from the survey Pnad Educação, released in Rio de Janeiro today (Jun 19) by the government’s statistics agency IBGE.

Improvements were seen throughout the country, with the highest gains observed in Central-West and the North. The former went from 9.2 to 9.6, and the latter from 8.3 to 8.7.

The Northeast climbed from 7.6 to 7.9 in the period; the Southeast went up to 10 from 9.7; the South saw an uptick from 9.2 to 9.5 years.

“This shows that the opportunities are different in education in each region. A difference is also seen between black and brown people and white people,” said Mariana Aguas, analyst with IBGE’s Coordination for Labor and Revenue.

Early years

Up to the age of three, children show a mere 34.2 percent of schooling (nurseries), but this proportion rises considerably in older age groups. Four- and five-year-olds reach 92.4 percent, and 6–14-year-olds 99.3 percent.

In Aguas’s opinion, it is remarkable that children aged six through 14 are in school, and this has been reported since 2016, when the first edition of the survey was released.

Older age groups, however, start showing higher school drop-out rates.