OEI puts forward education guidelines for Brazil's next gov’t

In a meeting held Tuesday evening (Nov. 6) in Brasília, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) unveiled a document dubbed “Education on the Agenda: A Plan for the Country,” aimed at helping President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro and state governors implement educational policies as of next year.

“Our approach is objective. The author of the articles used their experience in public policy management and brought forward proposals for early childhood, teacher development, and the enhancement of the National System for Education and Ethics in Education,” said OEI Secretary-General Mariano Jabonero.

OEI is a non-governmental institution that promotes cooperation among Ibero-American countries in education, culture, and science. The organization gets its funding from member countries and development projects.

The organization comprises Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Porto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Setbacks

Educator Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro, who help draft the document, argued that despite “the fantastic process of inclusion seen in the last few years in Brazil, only 60 percent of young people go to high school at the right age.”

In her view, the ideas found in the document aim to help the debate on the measures to be taken in the country. “Schooling in Brazil is utterly incompatible with a country listed among the world’s ten biggest economies.”

According to Guimarães, the moment requires education managers to work to provide the answers to the technological challenges facing our century. “This is the only way we can enable the next generations to find qualification in schools for the labor market,” he added.