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Primary education in Brazil
PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BRAZIL M. E. Harrison ABSTRACT
It is not the purpose of this paper to investigate the role of education in the process of development in Brazil but merely to examine the development of the Brazilian primary education system since the 1800's. The theme of this paper is the analysis of just some of the issues, conflicts and problems that have influenced and fashioned the development of that system. It is the goal of the Brazilian government to provide 'universal obligatory education' Certain obstacles have appeared which have made attainment of that goal very difficult. Two of the most important obstacles are spatial inequalities and functional difficulties. Presented here is a brief explanation of these two issues. The education system in Brazil has never been without its problems and conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to assess how a few of these have shaped primary education in the country. The Brazilian Government places great emphasis on ~ducation as an important element in the development process and considers education to be basic social capital; people must be educated to work in and for the development of the nation (Cintra et al., 1978, 16, and The World Bank Report, 1977, 5). It is clearly set out in the Brazilian Constitution that 'Education is the right of all and shall be given in the home and in school. ' and '1. Primary schooling is obligatory and will only be given in the national language. 2. Official primary schooling is free to all. '1 As early as 1824 education was declared to be the civil right of all. Up to 1970 all Brazilian children between the ages of 7 and 11 years were expected to attend school, but it was not until then that the Brazilian Government issued the proposed goal of 100% complete primary school matriculation. Freire has criticised the Brazilian education system and he does not believe primary schooling in Brazil can ever be truly 'universal' because of the various constraints of the system (Freire, 1972, 67). Nevertheless 'the goal of Brazilian educational leaders is to provide a system of universal and obligatory primary education.' (Kimball, 1960,
49). Throughout the history of Brazil the educational leaders have grappled with the same few problems when it comes to providing primary education to all. Two of the main problems are spatial inequalities and functional difficulties. Before the 20th century the primary education system in Brazil was fundamentally a service provided for the ruling rural elite; the acquisition of some form of education was seen as a social achievement. The early development of the system was constrained and controlled by the ruling colonial power of Portugal and the Roman Catholic leaders. The Portuguese empire ensured that political, economic and social power remained with the rural elite. As a result, these were the only people to receive any formal education which was strictly classical and European in style. By the end of the colonial period in 1822 the supply of education facilities was highly localised, only the wealthy rural areas had schools. The teachers in the schools were church authorities and missionaries. The influence of the Church and foreign countries has made the Brazilian education system extremely complex and lead to certain functional problems. There is the variety of types of education systems used. Besides Portugal, other colonial powers, especially France and Britain, have influenced the structure and organisation of the system. Until the early 20th century all states in Brazil, except
The 1946 Brazilian Constitution Chapter 2, Section 6, Articles 166 and 168. 193
S~o Paulo, used a European, often French, style of schooling and Sao Paulo adopted the American style of schooling. The plan, structure, organisation and co-ordination of the present Brazilian system are similar to the education system of the U.S.A. In effect, the Brazilian education leaders have selected from foreign patterns certain aspects of each and developed their own, perhaps better suited to Brazil's needs. There are those who deplore any form of Third World mimicry of Western education (Illich, 1973, 362, and Buchanan, 1975, 10). Illich even goes as far as to say that "the adoption of international standards of schooling forever condemns most Latin Americans to marginality or exclusion from social life, in a word 'Underdevelopment' " (364). Kimball stated in 1960 that the Brazilian education system is "Conservative . . . partly from neglect and partly from indifference." and "has failed miserably to meet the needs of an emerging industrial society." (Kimball, 1960, 49). Dramatic changes began to take place in the Brazilian economy in the early 20th century. The growth rate of industrialization, urbanization and overall modernization accelerated. However, under ~ c h pressure, the old traditional form of rural elitist education was inadequate; the urbanites and the expanding industrial economy required a much more organised education system. Whereas before the supply of ed~acation had been unequal in favour of the rural elite, now in the later 20th century one finds the unequal supply of education facilities persists but in favour of the urban elite. When President Vargas came to power in 1930, there was considerable conflict between the rural masses and the new urban elite and the economic disparity between the two was growing. Vargas tried to correct the situation by numerous reforms but unfortunately the measures did not have a lasting effect. In education, the Dewey Principle (Dewey, 1916) of the Escola Nova was introduced. The Dewey system was based on the idea of the school as the social and political vehicle for democratic change. Although the ideology behind the system was sound, the sheer size
194
and structure of the Brazilian education system proved too great. The ideas of Dewey were corrupted to serve the objectives of the state. It was in this era that one of the critical issues of the Brazilian primary education system was highlighted and this issue remains today. The issue is a question of priorities; should the quality of the education system be sacrificed for quantity, when vast numbers of schools and teachers are needed to keep pace with the 'booming' population? With the overthrow of President Vargas in 1946, a Democratic Republic was created. The new government sought to change the education system to meet the needs of the rapid social and economic development taking place in Brazil. From 1946 to 1971 numerous education laws were passed to try to 'update' the education system but it was not until 1971 that the education system was totally reorganised. The change over to the new system began in 1972. Instead of four years of primary education, the new system stipulated all children between the ages of 7 and 14 should attend school, thus making 8 years of primary education the legal obligatory privilege of all. There is as yet no complete set of statistics for the new primary education system, so that an analysis of its achievements is not possible. Empirical evidence for the years 1950 to 1970 indicate how unequal primary education facilities were in their spatial distribution. At the largest area level, the five major regions of Brazil, see Table 1, one can see the percentage share of population and selected education variables in 1950 and 1970. In 1950 the Southeast had a disproportionate share of teachers to population, 64.7% to 43.4%. However, neither in 1950 nor 1970 did the Southeast have an equal share of schools to population. The South was well provided with education facilities, except for Normalista teachers in 1950; this shortfall was rectified by 1970. There was little change in the North and Centre west between 1950 and 1970. The Northeast, the poor neighbour of the Southeast, was under-represented in every education variable to population except total schools in 1970. This was probably due to the preponderance of one-teacher-one-classroom schools.
Table 1 The 1950 and 1970 percentage values of population and live education variables in the live major regions of Brazil 1950 VARIABLES Regions North
Population 3.6
1 3.8
2 3.4
Northeast
34.6
30.9
23.0
Southeast
43.4
40.2
South
15.0
22. l
3.4
3.0
3.0
Centre West
3 2.2
4 4.0
5 4.3
18.1 "
23.3
20.3
49.3
64.7
51.7
52.3
21.3
13.2
18.2
~ 0.2
1.8
2.8
2.9
1970 VARIABLES Population 3.9
1
2
3
4
5
4.0
3.6
2.5
5.9
3.4
Northeast
30.2
36.8
23.5
16.8
25°0
24.4
Southeast
42.7
31.3
45.6
58.1
44.5
47.4
South
17.7
22.9
22.2
19.3
20.6
19.4
5.5
5.0
5.1
3.3
6.0
5.4
Regions North
Centre West Variables
1
Total S c h o o l s - - P r i m a r y
2
Total Teachers
3 4
Total Normalista TeachersmQualified
5
Total AprovafoesmPupils passing exams
Total Pupils Enrolling
Much of what is given in Table 1 can be explained by the wealth, westernization and level of development of the Southeast and South in comparison to the rest of Brazil. Culturally the Southeast and South have strong links with Europe and this m a y explain why these areas have a better provision of education facilities. T h e Northeast, the problem region of Brazil, is characterised by traditional colonial agricultural practices, poor communications and an inhospitable droughtprone climate and for m a n y years an area of out-migration. As a result, it is very difficult to supply education facilities in the Northeast.
The Centre west and North are pioneer areas of Brazil and like the Northeast have poor communications and it is difficult to ensure an adequate supply of education facilities. Since levels of national development are spatially unequal in Brazil, it is not surprising to find education facilities are distributed unequally, also. The spatial inequality between the states of Brazil for the same education variables can be measured by the Gini co-efficient of inequality 2. The scale of the Gini co-efficient is
: The Gini co-efficient of inequality is associated with the Lorenz curve, which is the geometric expression of cumulative value distributions of a population and a variable. A Lorenz curve is the line drawn representing the total percentage of variables held by decreasingly smaller percentages of the population. Bounded by the line of complete equality and the Lorenz curve is the area of inequality. The area of inequality is the graphical means of showing how much the Lorenz curve or the distribution of a variable according to population differs from distribution equality. To calculate the Gini co-efficient one expresses the area between the Lorenz curve and the line of equality as a proportion of the triangle that forms the lower right hand half of the whole area. 195
0 for equality and 1 for complete inequality. Analysis of Table 2 reveals that in actual fact the degree of spatial inequality for variables 2, 4 and 5 has decreased. Variables 1 and 3
have had rather erratic paths but by 1970 the level of inequality was no worse than in 1950. By 1970 spatial inequalities in education facilities were less than in 1950.
Table 2 National Gini co-efficient results [or five education variables VARIABLES Years
1
2
3
4
5
1950
0.184
0.173
0.292
0.149
0.227
1954
0.183
0.178
0.340
0.149
0.201
1958
0.158
0.175
0.349
0.145
0.178
1962
0.177
0.155
0.305
0.124
0.155
1966
0.170
0.142
0.244
0.113
0.144
1970
0.184
0.112
0.234
0.094
0.100
Variables
1
Total Schools--Primary
2
Total Teachers
3
Total Normalista Teachers--Qualified
4
Total Pupils Enrolling
5
Total Aprova¢oes--Pupils passing exams
In 1970, the difference between the states of Brazil in the provision of primary education facilities was not the only form of inequality that existed. There was inequality also between the rural and urban areas, with the latter in general, being better provided for in terms of staff, resources and equipment. In 1970 50% of all Brazilians were considered urbart in residence, but had only 24.9% of all primary schools. On the other hand, these schools attracted qualified teachers and greater financial support. During the twenty year period between 1950 and 1970 the percentage of rural schools had increased, while the percentage rural pupils had fallen from 45.8% to 40.5%. This suggests that more rural schools were being provided for relatively fewer rural
196
pupils with the aim of ensuring that all school age rural children had access to a school. However, even if rural pupils had access to schools, the rate of Aprova¢oes was lower in rural areas. The apparent inconsistency is partly explained by the prevalence of incomplete one-teacher-one-classroom schools in rural areas. In 1970, see Table 3, these schools accounted for 60.5 % of all rural enrolled pupils and only 4.1% of all urban enrolled pupils; the national value was 25% of all enrolled pupils. The percentage of pupils enrolled in one-teacher-one-classroom schools in the urban areas of the Northeast was greater than in any other urban area of any other region.
Table 3 Percentage o] pupils enrolled in one teacher schools in 1970 urban and rural areas States Rond6nia Acre Amazonas Roraima Parfi Amap,5
Urban 0.6 0.8 5.0 0.0 2.3 0.2
Rural 699 56.0 89.5 60.9 69.0 37.3
Total 18.7 30.3 37.2 28.3 27.6 14.4
Maranhfio Piaui Cear~i Rio Grande do Norte Paraiba Pernambuco Alagoas Sergipe Bahia
5.8 4.5 17.7 8.5 9.0 9.8 10.1 11.7 21.1
67.8 85 5 908 75.3 75.1 78.2 69.8 85.6 87.3
42.9 42.0 48.3 38.6 43.3 34.3 36.8 41.7 48.8
Minas Gerais Esplrito Santo Rio de Janeiro Guanabara Sao Paulo
0.3 4.0 0.8 0.3 2.8
48.7 88.0 22.0 1.1 76.1
17.9 48.1 66.2 0.4 17.3
Paran~i Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul
1.1 0.8 0.6
51.8 40.7 36.3
27.8 23.3 17.5
Mato Grosso Goi~s BRAZIL
2.1 0.8 4.1
54.3 37.6 60.5
23.0 13.7 25.0
Yet another way of expressing the differences or inequality that exist between the states of Brazil is to register the quality of the teaching staff. The Brazilian authorities face the problem of a trade off of quantity in preference to quality, because with a rapidly growing population of 2.4% per annum (1981 figure) the problems of meeting the increasing demand are phenomenal. In Table 4 one can see that in 1950 43.2% of all teachers were Normalistas and by 1970 this figure had only increased to 44.5%. The percentage range between the states was greater in 1950 than 1970 which
suggests that there was an improvement in the distribution of Normalistas. However, during that twenty year period 6 of the 9 states in the Northeast experienced a drop in the percentage value of Normalistas, whereas only 5 of the other 16 states did. In 1970, the states of Pernambuco and Bahia were the only states of the Northeast with above 50% of their teachers fully qualified. This is most probably due to the fact that these states are the most economically important states of the Northeast and both possess one of the key cities of the region.
197
Table 4 Normalista teachers as a percentage of total teachers States
1950
1970
Rond6nia Acre Amazonas Roraima Parfi Amap5.
66.0 13.8 47.9 65.2 30.8 31.9
32.0 21.6 43.5 31.0 41.2 46.8
Maranhfio Piaui Cearfi Rio Grande do Norte Paraiba Pernambuco Alagoas Sergipe Bahia
28.3 51.4 33.4 17.4 30.7 38.8 47.8 41.4 68.5
24.0 32.9 35.0 24.5 21.6 56.7 45.2 30.3 51.1
Minas Gerais Espirito Santo Rio de Janeiro Guanabara Silo Paulo
53.9 34.5 53.0 73.1 89.5
55.9 62.0 77.2 79.3 82.0
Paran/t Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul
39.7 29.9 32.2
34.5 54.5 58.1
Mato Grosso Goias BRAZIL
25.7 36.3 43.2
33.1 38.2 44.5
Source M.E.C.
It was mentioned earlier that the Brazilian education system has been beset with many functional difficulties. One of the most critical is the issue of decentralisation of the organisation and administration of primary 198
education. As early as 1834 the administration and organisation of primary and secondary schools was separated. In 1891 the supply of education facilities became the divided responsibility of the states and the federation. Ac-
cording to the 1937 constitution, schools could be administered privately, by the federation, 3 states 4 and municipiosL Administering organisations were to provide all levels of education and where possible to university standard. Therefore, every state in Brazil has private, federal, state and municipal schools and consequently there is a certain degree of overlap of schools in certain areas of a state; this is especially true of urban areas. All the administering organisations work independently but they must comply with the schooling regulations of the constitution. The Ministry of Education and Culture is the supreme national education body for policy formulation, execution and evaluation. Decentralisation has been seen by Brazilian education leaders as a way to overcome some of the problems connected with communications and distances in the country and the size of the task. (Brazil is the fifth largest country in area, in the world, and distances are a thorny problem in any planning and organisation of the nation. Also Brazil is the sixth most populous country, having in 1980 an estimated population of 120 million.) However, decentralisation does not provide all the answers, because one can rarely guarantee different institutions will provide similar, suitable forms of education. Inefficiency is often a result of decentralisation; a case of spreading insufficient resources too widely and :oo thinly. Daily functional problems which affect the progress and development of the Brazilian primary education system include poor attendance, especially among rural children and children of the favelas 6, and the drop out rate among pupils. T o attend school a child must possess a birth certificate. If the child's parents were never able to buy one, then their child cannot attend school. When a child cnrols for school, a small fee must be paid. The child or parents have to buy the school uniform, books and writing material, - - though
some schools do run a system where they will hire out books to children. Th~us one can sec financial constraints often explain why many school aged children do not attend school. Absenteeism from school can be explained by ill health or nutritional problems. It is wellknown that in many Third World countries many children suffer some form of malnutrition which may prevent them from attending school. T o overcome this problem the Brazilian government introduced in 1972 the Programa Nacional de Alimentafao e Nutrifao
(Law No. 5829, in 30.11.72, Cintra et al, 1978, 196) whereby every pupil receives, at school, one meal a day. The drop out rate is usually a problem in Third World countries and Brazil is no exception. The number of pupils who drop out of school has decreased in recent years but it still remains a problem. One other daily functional problem is the lack of staff to teach all grades in every school in every turno. A turno is a block of time lasting 3 to 4 hours when a child attends school. Most schools run 3 to 4 turnos a day. The purpose of the turno system is to make certain the school building is efficiently used and to provide education to the largest number of people as possible. However, a conflict of interest arises in that no teacher may teach more than one turno per school per day; the only exception to this is the headteacher. From the empirical evidence for 1950 to 1970, the inequality gap between the states appears to have been reduced. Brazilian education leaders have tried to reduce spatial inequality. Yet, while trying to do so, they have also encountered numerous functional problems. Many of these are made more complicated by the spatial inequalities in an area. Nevertheless during its evolution, the primary education system has shown itself to be flexible and able to change when new needs have arisen.
:' Federation schools are administered by the Ministry of Education and Culture (M.E.C.). ' State schools are administered by the State Secretary of Education and Culture. : .\ mtmicipio is an administrative area within a state. Municipal schools are administered by Secretariats of Education and Municipal Councils of Education. ' A favela is a shanty town. 199
Enseignement primaire au Bresil par M. E. Harrison
Resume Le but de cet article n'est pas d'examiner le r61e de l'6ducation au niveau du processus de d6veloppement du Br6sil, mais simplement de passer en revue le d6veloppement du syst~me d'enseignement primaire br6silien depuis les ann6es 1880. Le sujet de 'article est d'anlyser certaines des questions, des conflits et des probl~mes qui ont influene6 et d~termin6 le d~veloppement dudit syst~me. L'objectif du gouvernement br6silien est de fournir "une 6ducation obligatoire pour tous". Certains obstacles ont surgi qui ont rendu la r6alisation de cet objectif tr~s compliqu6e. Parmi les obstacles les plus importants, citons les in6galit~s g6ographiques et les difficult6s fonctionnelles. Nous pr6sentons ici une br~ve explication de ces deux points.
Education primaria en el Brasil por M. E. Harrison
Abstracto No es el objeto de esta comunicaci6n investigar el papel de la educaci6n en el proceso de desarrollo en el Brasil, sino meramente examinar el desarrollo del sistema de educaci6n primaria brasilefia desde los 1800. E1 tema de esta eomunicaci6n es el anfilisis de justo algunos de los planteamientos, conflictos y problemas que hart influido y conformado el desarrollo de tal sistema. Es la meta del gobierno brasilefio proporcionar educaci6n obligatoria universal. Han surgido ciertos obstgtculos que han hecho muy dificil este logro. Dos de los obstficulos mils importantes son desigualdades espaciales y dificultades funcionales. Aqui se presenta una explicaci6n breve de estos dos planteamientos.
References Buchanan, K., 1975 Reflections on Education in The Third World, Nottingham, Spokesman Books. Cintra, A.O. and Haddad, P.R., 1978, Dilemas do Planejamento Urbano e Regional no Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Zahar Editores. Dewey, J, 1916, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, New York, Macmillan. Freire, P, 1972, Cultural Action for Harmondsworth, Penguin.
200
Freedom,
Illich, I, 1978, "Outwitting the Developed Countries" in H. Bernstein ed. Underdevelopment and Development, The Third World Today, Harmondsworth, Penguin. Kimball, S.T. 1960, "Primary education in Brazil", Comparative Education Review, 4.1: 49-54. World Bank Report, 1977, Basic Education and Income Inequality in Brazil: The long term view, World Bank Staff Working Paper, No. 268, Washington D . C
It is not the purpose of this paper to investigate the role of education in the process of development in Brazil but merely to examine the development of the Brazilian primary education system since the 1800's. The theme of this paper is the analysis of just some of the issues, conflicts and problems that have influenced and fashioned the development of that system. It is the goal of the Brazilian government to provide 'universal obligatory education' Certain obstacles have appeared which have made attainment of that goal very difficult. Two of the most important obstacles are spatial inequalities and functional difficulties. Presented here is a brief explanation of these two issues. The education system in Brazil has never been without its problems and conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to assess how a few of these have shaped primary education in the country. The Brazilian Government places great emphasis on ~ducation as an important element in the development process and considers education to be basic social capital; people must be educated to work in and for the development of the nation (Cintra et al., 1978, 16, and The World Bank Report, 1977, 5). It is clearly set out in the Brazilian Constitution that 'Education is the right of all and shall be given in the home and in school. ' and '1. Primary schooling is obligatory and will only be given in the national language. 2. Official primary schooling is free to all. '1 As early as 1824 education was declared to be the civil right of all. Up to 1970 all Brazilian children between the ages of 7 and 11 years were expected to attend school, but it was not until then that the Brazilian Government issued the proposed goal of 100% complete primary school matriculation. Freire has criticised the Brazilian education system and he does not believe primary schooling in Brazil can ever be truly 'universal' because of the various constraints of the system (Freire, 1972, 67). Nevertheless 'the goal of Brazilian educational leaders is to provide a system of universal and obligatory primary education.' (Kimball, 1960,
49). Throughout the history of Brazil the educational leaders have grappled with the same few problems when it comes to providing primary education to all. Two of the main problems are spatial inequalities and functional difficulties. Before the 20th century the primary education system in Brazil was fundamentally a service provided for the ruling rural elite; the acquisition of some form of education was seen as a social achievement. The early development of the system was constrained and controlled by the ruling colonial power of Portugal and the Roman Catholic leaders. The Portuguese empire ensured that political, economic and social power remained with the rural elite. As a result, these were the only people to receive any formal education which was strictly classical and European in style. By the end of the colonial period in 1822 the supply of education facilities was highly localised, only the wealthy rural areas had schools. The teachers in the schools were church authorities and missionaries. The influence of the Church and foreign countries has made the Brazilian education system extremely complex and lead to certain functional problems. There is the variety of types of education systems used. Besides Portugal, other colonial powers, especially France and Britain, have influenced the structure and organisation of the system. Until the early 20th century all states in Brazil, except
The 1946 Brazilian Constitution Chapter 2, Section 6, Articles 166 and 168. 193
S~o Paulo, used a European, often French, style of schooling and Sao Paulo adopted the American style of schooling. The plan, structure, organisation and co-ordination of the present Brazilian system are similar to the education system of the U.S.A. In effect, the Brazilian education leaders have selected from foreign patterns certain aspects of each and developed their own, perhaps better suited to Brazil's needs. There are those who deplore any form of Third World mimicry of Western education (Illich, 1973, 362, and Buchanan, 1975, 10). Illich even goes as far as to say that "the adoption of international standards of schooling forever condemns most Latin Americans to marginality or exclusion from social life, in a word 'Underdevelopment' " (364). Kimball stated in 1960 that the Brazilian education system is "Conservative . . . partly from neglect and partly from indifference." and "has failed miserably to meet the needs of an emerging industrial society." (Kimball, 1960, 49). Dramatic changes began to take place in the Brazilian economy in the early 20th century. The growth rate of industrialization, urbanization and overall modernization accelerated. However, under ~ c h pressure, the old traditional form of rural elitist education was inadequate; the urbanites and the expanding industrial economy required a much more organised education system. Whereas before the supply of ed~acation had been unequal in favour of the rural elite, now in the later 20th century one finds the unequal supply of education facilities persists but in favour of the urban elite. When President Vargas came to power in 1930, there was considerable conflict between the rural masses and the new urban elite and the economic disparity between the two was growing. Vargas tried to correct the situation by numerous reforms but unfortunately the measures did not have a lasting effect. In education, the Dewey Principle (Dewey, 1916) of the Escola Nova was introduced. The Dewey system was based on the idea of the school as the social and political vehicle for democratic change. Although the ideology behind the system was sound, the sheer size
194
and structure of the Brazilian education system proved too great. The ideas of Dewey were corrupted to serve the objectives of the state. It was in this era that one of the critical issues of the Brazilian primary education system was highlighted and this issue remains today. The issue is a question of priorities; should the quality of the education system be sacrificed for quantity, when vast numbers of schools and teachers are needed to keep pace with the 'booming' population? With the overthrow of President Vargas in 1946, a Democratic Republic was created. The new government sought to change the education system to meet the needs of the rapid social and economic development taking place in Brazil. From 1946 to 1971 numerous education laws were passed to try to 'update' the education system but it was not until 1971 that the education system was totally reorganised. The change over to the new system began in 1972. Instead of four years of primary education, the new system stipulated all children between the ages of 7 and 14 should attend school, thus making 8 years of primary education the legal obligatory privilege of all. There is as yet no complete set of statistics for the new primary education system, so that an analysis of its achievements is not possible. Empirical evidence for the years 1950 to 1970 indicate how unequal primary education facilities were in their spatial distribution. At the largest area level, the five major regions of Brazil, see Table 1, one can see the percentage share of population and selected education variables in 1950 and 1970. In 1950 the Southeast had a disproportionate share of teachers to population, 64.7% to 43.4%. However, neither in 1950 nor 1970 did the Southeast have an equal share of schools to population. The South was well provided with education facilities, except for Normalista teachers in 1950; this shortfall was rectified by 1970. There was little change in the North and Centre west between 1950 and 1970. The Northeast, the poor neighbour of the Southeast, was under-represented in every education variable to population except total schools in 1970. This was probably due to the preponderance of one-teacher-one-classroom schools.
Table 1 The 1950 and 1970 percentage values of population and live education variables in the live major regions of Brazil 1950 VARIABLES Regions North
Population 3.6
1 3.8
2 3.4
Northeast
34.6
30.9
23.0
Southeast
43.4
40.2
South
15.0
22. l
3.4
3.0
3.0
Centre West
3 2.2
4 4.0
5 4.3
18.1 "
23.3
20.3
49.3
64.7
51.7
52.3
21.3
13.2
18.2
~ 0.2
1.8
2.8
2.9
1970 VARIABLES Population 3.9
1
2
3
4
5
4.0
3.6
2.5
5.9
3.4
Northeast
30.2
36.8
23.5
16.8
25°0
24.4
Southeast
42.7
31.3
45.6
58.1
44.5
47.4
South
17.7
22.9
22.2
19.3
20.6
19.4
5.5
5.0
5.1
3.3
6.0
5.4
Regions North
Centre West Variables
1
Total S c h o o l s - - P r i m a r y
2
Total Teachers
3 4
Total Normalista TeachersmQualified
5
Total AprovafoesmPupils passing exams
Total Pupils Enrolling
Much of what is given in Table 1 can be explained by the wealth, westernization and level of development of the Southeast and South in comparison to the rest of Brazil. Culturally the Southeast and South have strong links with Europe and this m a y explain why these areas have a better provision of education facilities. T h e Northeast, the problem region of Brazil, is characterised by traditional colonial agricultural practices, poor communications and an inhospitable droughtprone climate and for m a n y years an area of out-migration. As a result, it is very difficult to supply education facilities in the Northeast.
The Centre west and North are pioneer areas of Brazil and like the Northeast have poor communications and it is difficult to ensure an adequate supply of education facilities. Since levels of national development are spatially unequal in Brazil, it is not surprising to find education facilities are distributed unequally, also. The spatial inequality between the states of Brazil for the same education variables can be measured by the Gini co-efficient of inequality 2. The scale of the Gini co-efficient is
: The Gini co-efficient of inequality is associated with the Lorenz curve, which is the geometric expression of cumulative value distributions of a population and a variable. A Lorenz curve is the line drawn representing the total percentage of variables held by decreasingly smaller percentages of the population. Bounded by the line of complete equality and the Lorenz curve is the area of inequality. The area of inequality is the graphical means of showing how much the Lorenz curve or the distribution of a variable according to population differs from distribution equality. To calculate the Gini co-efficient one expresses the area between the Lorenz curve and the line of equality as a proportion of the triangle that forms the lower right hand half of the whole area. 195
0 for equality and 1 for complete inequality. Analysis of Table 2 reveals that in actual fact the degree of spatial inequality for variables 2, 4 and 5 has decreased. Variables 1 and 3
have had rather erratic paths but by 1970 the level of inequality was no worse than in 1950. By 1970 spatial inequalities in education facilities were less than in 1950.
Table 2 National Gini co-efficient results [or five education variables VARIABLES Years
1
2
3
4
5
1950
0.184
0.173
0.292
0.149
0.227
1954
0.183
0.178
0.340
0.149
0.201
1958
0.158
0.175
0.349
0.145
0.178
1962
0.177
0.155
0.305
0.124
0.155
1966
0.170
0.142
0.244
0.113
0.144
1970
0.184
0.112
0.234
0.094
0.100
Variables
1
Total Schools--Primary
2
Total Teachers
3
Total Normalista Teachers--Qualified
4
Total Pupils Enrolling
5
Total Aprova¢oes--Pupils passing exams
In 1970, the difference between the states of Brazil in the provision of primary education facilities was not the only form of inequality that existed. There was inequality also between the rural and urban areas, with the latter in general, being better provided for in terms of staff, resources and equipment. In 1970 50% of all Brazilians were considered urbart in residence, but had only 24.9% of all primary schools. On the other hand, these schools attracted qualified teachers and greater financial support. During the twenty year period between 1950 and 1970 the percentage of rural schools had increased, while the percentage rural pupils had fallen from 45.8% to 40.5%. This suggests that more rural schools were being provided for relatively fewer rural
196
pupils with the aim of ensuring that all school age rural children had access to a school. However, even if rural pupils had access to schools, the rate of Aprova¢oes was lower in rural areas. The apparent inconsistency is partly explained by the prevalence of incomplete one-teacher-one-classroom schools in rural areas. In 1970, see Table 3, these schools accounted for 60.5 % of all rural enrolled pupils and only 4.1% of all urban enrolled pupils; the national value was 25% of all enrolled pupils. The percentage of pupils enrolled in one-teacher-one-classroom schools in the urban areas of the Northeast was greater than in any other urban area of any other region.
Table 3 Percentage o] pupils enrolled in one teacher schools in 1970 urban and rural areas States Rond6nia Acre Amazonas Roraima Parfi Amap,5
Urban 0.6 0.8 5.0 0.0 2.3 0.2
Rural 699 56.0 89.5 60.9 69.0 37.3
Total 18.7 30.3 37.2 28.3 27.6 14.4
Maranhfio Piaui Cear~i Rio Grande do Norte Paraiba Pernambuco Alagoas Sergipe Bahia
5.8 4.5 17.7 8.5 9.0 9.8 10.1 11.7 21.1
67.8 85 5 908 75.3 75.1 78.2 69.8 85.6 87.3
42.9 42.0 48.3 38.6 43.3 34.3 36.8 41.7 48.8
Minas Gerais Esplrito Santo Rio de Janeiro Guanabara Sao Paulo
0.3 4.0 0.8 0.3 2.8
48.7 88.0 22.0 1.1 76.1
17.9 48.1 66.2 0.4 17.3
Paran~i Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul
1.1 0.8 0.6
51.8 40.7 36.3
27.8 23.3 17.5
Mato Grosso Goi~s BRAZIL
2.1 0.8 4.1
54.3 37.6 60.5
23.0 13.7 25.0
Yet another way of expressing the differences or inequality that exist between the states of Brazil is to register the quality of the teaching staff. The Brazilian authorities face the problem of a trade off of quantity in preference to quality, because with a rapidly growing population of 2.4% per annum (1981 figure) the problems of meeting the increasing demand are phenomenal. In Table 4 one can see that in 1950 43.2% of all teachers were Normalistas and by 1970 this figure had only increased to 44.5%. The percentage range between the states was greater in 1950 than 1970 which
suggests that there was an improvement in the distribution of Normalistas. However, during that twenty year period 6 of the 9 states in the Northeast experienced a drop in the percentage value of Normalistas, whereas only 5 of the other 16 states did. In 1970, the states of Pernambuco and Bahia were the only states of the Northeast with above 50% of their teachers fully qualified. This is most probably due to the fact that these states are the most economically important states of the Northeast and both possess one of the key cities of the region.
197
Table 4 Normalista teachers as a percentage of total teachers States
1950
1970
Rond6nia Acre Amazonas Roraima Parfi Amap5.
66.0 13.8 47.9 65.2 30.8 31.9
32.0 21.6 43.5 31.0 41.2 46.8
Maranhfio Piaui Cearfi Rio Grande do Norte Paraiba Pernambuco Alagoas Sergipe Bahia
28.3 51.4 33.4 17.4 30.7 38.8 47.8 41.4 68.5
24.0 32.9 35.0 24.5 21.6 56.7 45.2 30.3 51.1
Minas Gerais Espirito Santo Rio de Janeiro Guanabara Silo Paulo
53.9 34.5 53.0 73.1 89.5
55.9 62.0 77.2 79.3 82.0
Paran/t Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul
39.7 29.9 32.2
34.5 54.5 58.1
Mato Grosso Goias BRAZIL
25.7 36.3 43.2
33.1 38.2 44.5
Source M.E.C.
It was mentioned earlier that the Brazilian education system has been beset with many functional difficulties. One of the most critical is the issue of decentralisation of the organisation and administration of primary 198
education. As early as 1834 the administration and organisation of primary and secondary schools was separated. In 1891 the supply of education facilities became the divided responsibility of the states and the federation. Ac-
cording to the 1937 constitution, schools could be administered privately, by the federation, 3 states 4 and municipiosL Administering organisations were to provide all levels of education and where possible to university standard. Therefore, every state in Brazil has private, federal, state and municipal schools and consequently there is a certain degree of overlap of schools in certain areas of a state; this is especially true of urban areas. All the administering organisations work independently but they must comply with the schooling regulations of the constitution. The Ministry of Education and Culture is the supreme national education body for policy formulation, execution and evaluation. Decentralisation has been seen by Brazilian education leaders as a way to overcome some of the problems connected with communications and distances in the country and the size of the task. (Brazil is the fifth largest country in area, in the world, and distances are a thorny problem in any planning and organisation of the nation. Also Brazil is the sixth most populous country, having in 1980 an estimated population of 120 million.) However, decentralisation does not provide all the answers, because one can rarely guarantee different institutions will provide similar, suitable forms of education. Inefficiency is often a result of decentralisation; a case of spreading insufficient resources too widely and :oo thinly. Daily functional problems which affect the progress and development of the Brazilian primary education system include poor attendance, especially among rural children and children of the favelas 6, and the drop out rate among pupils. T o attend school a child must possess a birth certificate. If the child's parents were never able to buy one, then their child cannot attend school. When a child cnrols for school, a small fee must be paid. The child or parents have to buy the school uniform, books and writing material, - - though
some schools do run a system where they will hire out books to children. Th~us one can sec financial constraints often explain why many school aged children do not attend school. Absenteeism from school can be explained by ill health or nutritional problems. It is wellknown that in many Third World countries many children suffer some form of malnutrition which may prevent them from attending school. T o overcome this problem the Brazilian government introduced in 1972 the Programa Nacional de Alimentafao e Nutrifao
(Law No. 5829, in 30.11.72, Cintra et al, 1978, 196) whereby every pupil receives, at school, one meal a day. The drop out rate is usually a problem in Third World countries and Brazil is no exception. The number of pupils who drop out of school has decreased in recent years but it still remains a problem. One other daily functional problem is the lack of staff to teach all grades in every school in every turno. A turno is a block of time lasting 3 to 4 hours when a child attends school. Most schools run 3 to 4 turnos a day. The purpose of the turno system is to make certain the school building is efficiently used and to provide education to the largest number of people as possible. However, a conflict of interest arises in that no teacher may teach more than one turno per school per day; the only exception to this is the headteacher. From the empirical evidence for 1950 to 1970, the inequality gap between the states appears to have been reduced. Brazilian education leaders have tried to reduce spatial inequality. Yet, while trying to do so, they have also encountered numerous functional problems. Many of these are made more complicated by the spatial inequalities in an area. Nevertheless during its evolution, the primary education system has shown itself to be flexible and able to change when new needs have arisen.
:' Federation schools are administered by the Ministry of Education and Culture (M.E.C.). ' State schools are administered by the State Secretary of Education and Culture. : .\ mtmicipio is an administrative area within a state. Municipal schools are administered by Secretariats of Education and Municipal Councils of Education. ' A favela is a shanty town. 199
Enseignement primaire au Bresil par M. E. Harrison
Resume Le but de cet article n'est pas d'examiner le r61e de l'6ducation au niveau du processus de d6veloppement du Br6sil, mais simplement de passer en revue le d6veloppement du syst~me d'enseignement primaire br6silien depuis les ann6es 1880. Le sujet de 'article est d'anlyser certaines des questions, des conflits et des probl~mes qui ont influene6 et d~termin6 le d~veloppement dudit syst~me. L'objectif du gouvernement br6silien est de fournir "une 6ducation obligatoire pour tous". Certains obstacles ont surgi qui ont rendu la r6alisation de cet objectif tr~s compliqu6e. Parmi les obstacles les plus importants, citons les in6galit~s g6ographiques et les difficult6s fonctionnelles. Nous pr6sentons ici une br~ve explication de ces deux points.
Education primaria en el Brasil por M. E. Harrison
Abstracto No es el objeto de esta comunicaci6n investigar el papel de la educaci6n en el proceso de desarrollo en el Brasil, sino meramente examinar el desarrollo del sistema de educaci6n primaria brasilefia desde los 1800. E1 tema de esta eomunicaci6n es el anfilisis de justo algunos de los planteamientos, conflictos y problemas que hart influido y conformado el desarrollo de tal sistema. Es la meta del gobierno brasilefio proporcionar educaci6n obligatoria universal. Han surgido ciertos obstgtculos que han hecho muy dificil este logro. Dos de los obstficulos mils importantes son desigualdades espaciales y dificultades funcionales. Aqui se presenta una explicaci6n breve de estos dos planteamientos.
References Buchanan, K., 1975 Reflections on Education in The Third World, Nottingham, Spokesman Books. Cintra, A.O. and Haddad, P.R., 1978, Dilemas do Planejamento Urbano e Regional no Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Zahar Editores. Dewey, J, 1916, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, New York, Macmillan. Freire, P, 1972, Cultural Action for Harmondsworth, Penguin.
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Freedom,
Illich, I, 1978, "Outwitting the Developed Countries" in H. Bernstein ed. Underdevelopment and Development, The Third World Today, Harmondsworth, Penguin. Kimball, S.T. 1960, "Primary education in Brazil", Comparative Education Review, 4.1: 49-54. World Bank Report, 1977, Basic Education and Income Inequality in Brazil: The long term view, World Bank Staff Working Paper, No. 268, Washington D . C