The Brazilian Educational System

Professional shortage in Brazil has highlighted a constant problem, that has always been
ignored by the government throughout the years: education.
Brazil has made huge improvements towards reducing the levels of illiteracy in the country,
decreasing the number of illiterates from 16.3 million in 2000 to 13.2 million in 2012. During
2013 the government saw this reduction stagnate. Even financial incentives like the Bolsa
Familia, which was one of the best bets by the government to improve Brazilian education
levels, has proven to be ineffective and the country is still far from reaching literacy levels
found in other BRIC counterparts like Russia and China.
One of the biggest issues that Brazil faces, mainly due to a poor public education system, is
the fact that nearly 18% of the Brazilian population is functionally illiterate, meaning that
they know words and numbers but are unable to comprehend a sentence or perform a simple
mathematical operation. Perhaps what is most alarming is that according to research by the
Instituto Paulo Montenegro (IPM), related to research company Ibope, 38% of Brazilian
undergraduates are also functionally illiterate.
These figures show how fragile the educational system in Brazil is and the difficulties that the
government still needs to address in order to sustain the growth of the country.

Government Propositions to Improve Education

In 2014 the Brazilian Government announced a set of aggressive measurements that will be
implemented up until 2024 in order to boost the educational system performance.
This program, denominated PNE, short for Plano Nacional de Educao, is composed of 21
measures and aims, amongst others, to increase the number of mandatory education years, the
percentage of Brazilians going to schools and universities and provide means for teachers to
improve their qualifications and skills.
To reach the targets established by PNE, the government will nearly double the investments
in education. In 2012, the government directed 5,3% of the GDP to education and by 2014
the goal is to raise the investments to 10%.
Last but not least, the controversial law which allows students in public institutions to be
promoted to the next grade even if they fail, generates further skepticism to the effectiveness
of the public school learning.

Understanding the Brazilian Education System

The educational system in Brazil is divided into mandatory and non-mandatory levels. We
will outline the main aspects of each level here:

Educao Infantil, or Pre-school: This level is aimed at children between 2

to 5 years old which is comprised of both day care and pre-school. For
children aged between 2 and 4, day care, known as creche in Portuguese,
may be offered by the government but as it is not mandatory, there is no
guarantee that there are available places for all children. The pr-escola,
which is the pre-school will be mandatory from 2016 and therefore
guaranteed by the government for children between 4 and 6

Ensino Fundamental I e II or Fundamental Education I and II: This stage is

mandatory for children and adolescents between 6 to 14 years old. Both
correspond to two stages: the first one goes from 1st to 5th grade and the
second, from 6th to 9th grade

Ensino Mdio or Secondary School: Aimed at adolescents between 15 to

17, being considered mandatory by the government from 2016

Ensino Tcnico or Technical school: A technician degree that can be

obtained together with ensino mdio. It requires that the student has
completed ensino fundamental and is usually provided by public
institutions

Ensino Superior or higher education: This stage is no longer mandatory

and is aimed at adults aged 18 and above

Path to higher education

The Brazilian educational system has several deficiencies throughout, but the difference
between students from private and public schools becomes even more aggravated when they
are competing for places at public universities. Different from education at Fundamental and
Secondary levels, public higher education still holds a paramount status, and the competition
for places at renowned universities, especially the Federal ones, is extremely fierce.
In an attempt to address this issue and provide a more balanced chance for the students
coming from public schools, the government created in 2012 a law guaranteeing them 50% of
the places in Federal universities and educational institutions. In addition to this quota,
several universities also reserve a percentage of the places for black, mixed race and
indigenous students.
The government also created a program called Prouni, which grants students from lower
income families partial or total scholarships at private universities. There is also a financing
programme by the Ministry of Education called Fundo de Financiamento Estudantil or FIES,
which allows students to finance the education at low interest rates, which can be used in
addition to Prouni.
However with the increasing number of private universities that offer courses with a rather
questionable quality, it seems that the issue related to education in Brazil is still far from
being resolved, and the country will still continue to struggle with functional illiteracy at
higher education for several years to come.

School Drop-Out and Push-Out Factors

in Brazil

1 Introduction
Even though Brazil has reached almost universal enrollment in primary education, grade
repetition and school drop-out and push-out are common. As a result, com-pletion rates are
substantially lower than enrollment, and many children abandon school with relatively low
levels of completed education. The problem is partic-ularly acute in poorer neighborhoods.
Lower chances of finding a good job and poverty are some of the consequences of low
educational attainment. As illustrated by Perlman in the late 1960s, parents in the favela
[shantytown] would often tell their children that if they did not stay in school they would end
up as garbage collectors. In July 2003, the city [Rio de Janeiro] opened a competition for 400
garbage collector jobs, and 12,000 people applied. A high school diploma was a prerequisite
for application (Perlman 2003: 13). This paper aims at identifying the major drop-out and
push-out factors that lead to school abandonment in neighborhoods in Fortaleza, Northeast
Brazil. It re-lies on an extensive survey that specifically addressed possible risk factors faced
by the population in these neighborhoods, in particular the youth. The major advan-tages of
the survey are its wide coverage, of both in-school and out-of-school youth,of both genders,
and the wide set of issue s addressed, namely:socio-economic background; education; health
and sexuality; social capital and violence; and employment and economic activity.We are
particularly interested in evaluating the role of early parenthood, child labor and poverty
pushing children out of school. However, those variables are potentially endogenous,first
because there may be determinants of the schooling decision on which we have no
information and are therefore omitted from the set of explanatory variables we consider, and
second because child labor and early motherhood may be determined simultaneously with
school drop-out. We therefore estimate an economic model of school drop-out and push-out
using an instrumental variables method, taking advantage of the rich set of variables in the
dataset.From the question what age do you think is the ideal age to start having sexual
relationships? we derive an identifying instrument for early motherhood, since the belief
about this ideal age is likely to induce variation in the age at which parenthood first takes
place, but it should have no additional direct impact on the probability of leaving school.
Similarly, we use the question what is the minimum monthly salary that you would accept to
work? to instrument the variable child and youth labor. Again, the reasoning is that the
reservation wage is likely to be correlated with whether the child or youth works, affecting
the outcome of interest,whether (s)he attends school, solely through this channel of the labor
decision.

2 Legal setting in Brazil

Primary education covers in Brazil grades 1 through 8 and it is compulsory for ages7 to 14
years. It comprises four years of elementary education and another four of intermediate
education. Enrollment rates are high, with almost 100 percent of children starting the first
grade. The country is pointed out as having been verysuccessful at raising enrollment rates,
from 67 percent in 1970 to 96 percent in 1998 for the age group 7-14 years. Part of that trend
reflected the decline in birth rates, from 6 percent a year during the 1960s to 2 percent a year
in late 1990s (unesco, 2006). However, the inefficiency in the countrys schooling system is
also often high-lighted, since it presents lower rates of actual school attendance than

enrollment,and very high rates of grade repetition. In 1997, 23 percent of the students in the
primary education system were bound to repeat a grade at the end of the school year, and
another 4 percent dropped out (unesco , 2006). As a result, the gap
betweenageandgradeislarge,andhighe nrollment rates do not translate into high completion
rates or into a high level of schooling by school leavers. This situation occurs despite
improvements that have been taking place, as the share of children completing eight years of
primary education increased, from below half in 1990 to 72 percent ten years later (Bruns et
al, 2003: 52-54). The school day lasts approximately 4 hours and in many places there are
three shifts in a day (morning, afternoon, and evening). The minimum legal age to work in
Brazil is 16 years, following the ratification in 2001 of International Labor Convention 138
on minimum age for admission into employment.

3 Previous literatures take on why teenagers drop out of

School
The analysis of the determinants of school drop-out in developed countries has highlighted
factors such as drug use, alcohol consumption, and parents psychi-atric disorders, controlling
for possible confounding factors such as socio-economic status of the family, gender, race,
and age of the child.For developing countries,
most often the trade-off between school and child labor has been underlined, with fewer
studies concentrating just on the determinants of school performance.In terms of method,
earlier studies modeled the probability that the child would work or, in alternative, attend
school, estimating a logit model.Underlying this
approach was, in some cases, the idea that school attendance and child labor are mutually
exclusive activities if the child is working, (s)he is not attending school and vice-versa. In
other cases, work was included among the exogenous factors explaining school performance.
Results suggested that poverty, as captured for
example by the number of siblings or the work status of the father, is a determinant of child
labor and of poor school performance.
Later studies acknowledged the possibility of combining work and school, in par-ticular in
countries where school lasts just half-day. One method followed was the estimation of a
multinomial logit model involving four possible states: specializa-tion in school;
specialization in labor; combination of both activities; or inactivity.
Other authors accounted for the interdependence of the two decisions by estimat-ing bivariate
probit models. This allows, not just for an easy direct comparison of the impact of each
variable on the probability of working and of studying, but also for the quantification of the
non-explainable correlation between the two deci-sions, associated with unobserved
factors.Both of these methods assume that the decisions on school and work are taken
simultaneously. In the same vein, Rosati and Rossi estimated a simultaneous model of school
attendance and hours worked. Some of the results in this literature, though not completely
consensual,
are: older children and males are more prone to combine school and work; older siblings are
less likely to attend school; lower ability children are more likely to drop-out of school,
specializing in work or becoming idle; there is intergenerational persistence in child labor
status; higher family socio-economic status increases the
probability that the child will stay in school and decreases the probability that (s)he will
work; on the other hand, poverty motivates specialization in just labor or inactivity; families
that run a business are more likely to have their children working, though not necessarily
abandoning school; negative shocks a ffecting the

household, such as the father becoming unemployed, raise the probability that the child will
leave school and enter the labor market; there is a negative unexplained correlation between
attending school and working.Fitzsimons though going back
to the assumption that child labor is the reverse of school attendance, provides further
exploration of the role of income shocks. Going beyond the idea that the current level of household income determines
the probability that the child will abandon school to work, she tests whether also the riskiness
of the household income stream matters. Indeed, child labor could be used by the family as an
insurance mechanism against fluctuations in income, in countries where insurance markets
are underdeveloped. Her results lend support to the hypothesis that child labor has an
insurance role, protecting against earnings volatility at the aggregate (village) level, whereas
idiosyncratic
(household level) risk is handled without resorting to the use of child labor. Pal explicitly
took into account the sequential nature of schooling pro-gression, to estimate a sequential
probit model.

Student dropouts in south Subcontinent

Causes of students dropouts vary region to region [15]. In South Asia dropout rate is
high in some countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. If people in
subcontinent want their children to grow, take part in productivity and be good citizen
then countries in Subcontinent must focus on their education system and should
make sure the attendance of children in their schools and promote awareness
regarding education for those who never attended school. There is inverse
relationship between level of social capital and trend in students dropouts [16].
UNICEF reported that around 7.57 million children who are 5 to 10 years old never
attend school in South Asia, and 25.29 million children should study in secondary
education but they does not in school at all. Figures of dropout rate reflected that
Subcontinent region is top second region where children do not educating and
dropping out. Sub-Sahara Africa is on the top of list by dropping out rate. Researcher
discussed the reasons of low educational position in Pakistan, researcher argued that
the major factor that contributes backwardness of educational system is fragmented
and all the boards working independently, and have no coordination between
regulatory authorities [17]. Subcontinent got substantial success in establishment of
proper education system and these efforts results in an increase in enrolment of
children for primary level education. In 2011 about 90% students enrolled in primary
schools.

Causes of student dropouts

Financially weak students have high possibility to dropout .Poor attendance was major
reason of students dropout without completion. Researcher also found that those
students also dropout whose parents do not interested in their study. Researcher
studied that students dropouts when they depressed by their poor are depressed by
their poor academic performance. Study explores the relationship of students
dropouts with social, institutional, economic and personal aspects. Findings of
previous research shows that there are many socio-economic factors such as high

cost of institutes, parents are not interested to educate their children instead they
want their children to work and earn, early marriage, security problems that caused
the drop out of students from polytechnic institutes.
Children having different age and capacities study in a joint classroom, without
adoption of appropriate teaching methods, learning and induce to participate in the
School.Researcher examined that mostly the students who belonged to poor family
background students dropouts, their parents were uneducated and earned less
income that was not sufficient to fulfill their expenses. Researcher also find that
students drop their school due to poor health caused by poor diet and starvation,
distance between their institute and house or from their town, lack of awareness and
lack of teaching staff are common causes of dropouts. Findings of previous studies
shown that inequalities of education system and poor family background also helps in
student dropout . Describing the causes of students dropouts researcher founded
that Distance to schools, bad quality of the education, inadequate school environment
and building, overloaded class rooms, improper languages of teaching, carelessness
of teachers and security problem in girls school, were common causes which increase
school dropouts. In Pakistan there are so many children who leave the schools without
completing their education. With other reasons corporal punishment is one of the
major reasons to contribute high rate drop outs in Pakistan. Open and good
atmosphere increased the chances of students to learn more and lower the students
dropouts Dropout rate increased due to boring environment of school and outsides of
buildings, lack of facilities in school and bad physical atmosphere. Besides other
factor poverty highly contributes to students dropouts

Effect of student dropouts on economy

Education is vital for economic development. According to Vision 2030, Education is
key component of economic growth because it has directly influence on
entrepreneurship, productivity growth and then increases employment opportunities
and women empowerment. Education helps in making potential youth for the
enhancement of ability, creativity and systematically skills to contest with the fast
changing Global inclination. Students drop outs reduces literacy rate of country and
non-innovative environment.
Due to Students drop outs economy also have to pay cost; class of students dropouts
will cost the country over $200 billion during their existence in lost earnings and
unrealized tax revenue every year [25]. People without education unable to get jobs
and more likely to spend their lives jobless or on government assistance. These
students often struggle with poverty, abuse or neglect in their homes. It is imperative
investment for human and economic development. This human capital accelerates
economic activity and development. Extensive literature review has been conducted
to conceptualize the theme of study, and to generalize the concept to a wider range
of population. Comparative analysis of past studies has been conducted in order to
find out various causes of students dropouts. Researcher tries to emphasize on logical
reasoning while discussing the objectives and giving suggestions in the study.

Suggestions and Recommendation

To control the worse satiation of students dropouts from educational institutes Govt
should take some remedial measure, such as
Government should ensure the attendance of teachers in schools to run academic
activities.
Establishment of school with all basic Facilities such as; furniture, electricity, water
and computer and science lab [38].
Establishment of teachers training programs to trained the teacher to compete with
international level of education.
Community awareness seminar should be launch to develop the interest of parent
and students towards study and avoid school dropout.
Abolish Influences external powers from Schools which have adverse effect on
educational system.
Government should establish schools near villages to ensure accessibility of
education for rural population.
There should be free education minimum at secondary level. The Government
should try to support studentswith free coaching materials such as uniforms, free
books, etc., [39,40].
Government should offer scholarships for intelligent and needy students.
Study loan should be offered to provide financial support.
The curriculum should be reviewed and adopted according to the market demand
and international standard.
Trends of early marriages should be abolish
Schools should provide favorable environment for students and makes schools the
place of interest for the student. Environment of School would be interesting and
students feel it as a place of learning as well as relaxation and liberation .
Limitations
This study also faces some limitations, such as time constraints and budget
constraints. Due to these constrains this study cannot include causes of students
dropouts in rural areas and not able to conduct empirical testing.
Future research
Future research can be conduct on large scales to find out the reasons of drop outs. In
future research causesof students dropouts can be checked in special education
institutes and at university level, comparative analysis of causes of students
dropouts in rural areas and urban areas can also be conducted. Moreover, Empirical
testing can enhance the viability of the research in future.

Educational Infrastructure in Brazil

Background Information
Brazil is the largest country in South America and shares a border with very
country on the continent apart from Ecuador and Chile. It is the fifth largest
country in the world and is similar in size to the continental United States.
Divided into 26 states and one federal district , the geography of Brazil varies
significantly by region . The population is around 199 million
People . A disproportionate percentage of the population lives in the Southeast
region of the country and 87 percent lives in urban areas. Brazil has a rapidly
growing economy . Key industries include agriculture, mining,
manufacturing , and the service sectors. Brazil was encountered by
Pedro lvares Cabral in the year 1500 and was soon established as a
Portuguese colony. After centuries of Portuguese rule, Brazil gained its
ndependence in 1822. Brazil went through periods of monarchical, oligarch
ic, populist , and military rule until 1985. It was at this time that the military
regime relinquished its power to civilian leader s. In 1988 a new Constitution
was written and is the basis for modern Brazilian legislation.
Education

The
current
Brazilian education system is based
on the 1988 Constitution,
which highlighted
education as a universal right that
should be promoted and protected by
the government.
In 1996,

the National Education Guidelines

and Framework Law (
Lei d
e Diretrizes e Bases da Educao
)
or LBD, was passed. This law
required a common national basis for
curricul
um
in primary and
secondary education, increased the
length and number of teaching days
, accounted for the
evaluation of courses and institutions
at
all education levels
, allowed for the integration of
vocational education, and made
considerations for special and
indigenous education. Since the

implementation of the 1996 LBD,

more recent legislation has been
passed to continue to improve
the Brazilian
education system. Some of these
changes include the creation of the
National
System of Higher Education
Evaluation (SINAES), the
establishment of a compulsory nine
-year
primary education system
, and the development of additional
opportunities for vocational
training.
While Brazil continues to develop its
own education system, many
Brazilian students are looking

to complement their studies with an

experience abroad. Brazil is the
fourteenth leading place of
origin for international students
coming to the United States. In the
201112 academic year,
9,029 Brazilian students studied
abroad in the U
nited S
tates
. The Brazilian government has also
recognized the value in inter
national education.
In an effort to strengthen higher
education and
increase internati
onal cooperation in the STEM fields,
the Brazilian government launched
the

Brazil Scientific Mobility Program

(formerly Science with
out
Borders) in 2011. This program
will grant 100,000 scholarships to
Brazilian students to study in the
worlds top univers
ities in 20
countries, including the United States
.

Education Bodies
Education in Brazil is supervised by
a system of ministries and
government offices that work
together at the municipality, state and
federal level. Municipalities are
responsible for providing
and regulating early childhood
education. The states and federal
district are responsible for the

provision and regulation of primary

and secondary education. The federal
government is
responsible for the provision of
education in its institutions a
nd the regulation of private
institutions. The following
bodies
supervise and
administer education in Brazil
.
The Ministry of Education
Ministrio da Educa
o
The Ministry of Education is
responsible for providing technical
and financial support to the
municipalities, the states and the
federal district for their school
systems; drafting education

legislation; supporting the network

of federal education institutions and
supervising the private
education system. The principal
Secretariats of the Ministry of
Education are as follows:
Secretariat of Basic Education
; Secretariat of Continuing
Education, Literacy and Diversity
;
Secretariat of Distance Education;
Secretariat of Special Education;
Secretariat of Technical and
Vocational Education; Secretariat of
Hi
gher Education.
The National Committee for the
Evaluation of Higher Education
Comisso Nacional de Av

aliao da Educao Superior

(CONAES)
CONAES is responsible for the
supervision and coordination of the
National System of Higher
Education Evaluation or
Sistema Nacional de Avaliao da
Educao Superior (SINAES)
.
CONAES does the following: evaluate the
dynamics, processes and mechanisms of
institutional
evaluation of courses and student performance;
establish guidelines for the organization and
designatio
n of evaluation committees, review reports, and
make recommendations; formulate
proposals for the development of higher education
institutions; and submit an annual report on
courses in which students took the National
Examination of Student Performance or
Exame
Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes (ENADE)
.

The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher

Education Personnel
Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de
Nvel Superior
(CAPES)
CAPES is responsible for the evaluation of graduate
programs as well as promoting international
scientific cooperation. CAPES administers the
Brazil Scientific Mobility Program scholarship in
cooperation with the Nation
al Council for Scientific and Technological
Development
or
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico
e Tecnolgico (CNPq
)
.

Primary and Secondary Education

EducaoBsico
Currently, p
rimary and secondary education in Brazil follows a
9+3 pattern. This is an increase
from the previous system, which was an 8+3
structure. This change was implemented in 2010 as
part of the reforms stemming from the 1996 LDB.
Primary education is compulsory and free at public
institutions. Pre
-primary and secondary

educ
ation are not compulsory, but are available for free
at public institutions. Private institutions
are available at all education levels. Private
institutions must be evaluate
d and approved by the
Ministry of Education. The quality
of
primary and secondary schools varies significantly
depending on the individual institution.
Primary Education
Ensino Fundamental
(9 Y
ears; Ages 6
-15)
As of 2010, fundamental education has a duration
of 9 years and is compulsory for children aged
6- 14. Previously, fundamental e
ducation was compulsory at age 7 and only lasted
eight years.
Fundamental education curriculum includes history,
geography, science, mathematics, arts,
Portuguese and physical education.
Leaving Certificate:
Certificado
de Ensino Fundamental
Secondary Ed
ucation

Ensino Mdio
(3 Y
ears; Ages 15
-18)
Curriculum includes at least one foreign language,
philosophy, sociology, Portuguese,
geography, history, physics, chemistry, biology,
mathematics, art and physical education.
Leaving Certificate:
Certificado de Ensino M
dio
(Certificado de Concluso de 2 Grau
)
Vocational Secondary Education
Educao Profissional Tcnica de Nvel Mdio
(3
-4 Years)
After completing
ensino fundamental
, students may choose attend a vocational secondary
school.
The curriculum can inc
lude general as well as specialized vocational
subjects.
Leaving Certificat
Adult Education
In addition to secondary and vocational secondary education, Brazil
offers an adult educa

tion
secondary school diploma for nontraditional students. Students with this qualification may take
university entrance exams.

Higher Education
Educao Superior
Admission to universities in Brazil is based on the completion of
secondary school as well as the
scores on entrance exams. Traditionally, each university had its own
entrance exam, called the
vestibular
. The
vestibular
tests students on a variety of subjects. The exam var
ies by institution.
Brazilian students often take extra courses after the completion of
secondary school to prepare
for the
vestibular
.
Another entrance exam is the
Exame Nacional do Ensino Mdio
(
ENEM
).The ENEM was
launched in 1998 as a means of assessi
ng the
quality of Brazilian education. I
n 2009 the
Brazilian Ministry of Education
established ENEM as the official university entrance exam.
Hundreds of universities are now using ENEM in replacement of or in
addition to their own
vestibular to make admis
sions decisions.
The ent
rance exams are very challenging and acceptance to the best universities

public federal
universities
is very competitive. Traditionally, only students with the means to
afford a private
primary and secondary education were able to obtain the scores
necessary to gain
entrance to
federal universities.
Public secondary schools in Brazil are disproportionately attended by
lower
income students. This has been controversial as not only are the federal
universities known as the
best unive
rsities
they
are also largely free of charge.
In response, Brazil recently passed one of
the most comprehensive affirmative action laws in higher education
history. This law, passed in
2012, will require
that
half of the annual incoming c
lass at each feder
al university matriculate
from public secondary school
s. Affected universities will have four years to implement the
change.
University education in Brazil is divided in two levels: graduao
(undergraduate) and pos
graduao (graduate). University credentials are as follows:
Bachelor
Graduao
(4
-6 Years)
These programs last for 4, 5, or 6 years.
All programs require a final paper or final research.
Leaving Certificate:

Bacharel
;
Licenciado
(teaching diploma)
Specialization Courses
Cursos de esp
ecia
lizao
(Varies)
The specialization courses consist of vocational or professional
programs and are generally not
accredited by the Ministry of Education. These courses are referred to as
wide sense.
Master
Mestrado
(18
-24 Months)
Mestrado
programs are referred to as
s
tricto sensu
(strict sense). The curriculum focuses on
theory and research and a demonstrated ability in a foreign language is
required. A thesis is
mandatory for graduation.
Leav
ing Certificate:
Mestre
Doctor
Doutorado
(4 Years)
In most cases, a
Mestre
is required for admission. For select programs, a student can be admitted
with a
Bacharel
. A thesis or dissertation is required for graduation. The Doutorado is
also

considered
stricto sensu
.