Brazil Minister of Education Calls for 7 Percent Budget Increase

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Ministry of Education announced this week that it will increase the country’s education budget next year by approximately R$9 billion. The 2016 education budget approved by Congress in January called for resources of up to R$99.8 billion to be used for the sector this year.

“The MEC (Ministry of Education) budget for 2017 will grow by seven percent compared to 2016. With this, we will make further investments in Brazilian education,” Minister of Education, José Mendonça Bezerra Filho, told reporters on Tuesday, September 6th.

According to Bezerra Filho this increase shows the administrations commitment to public education in this country. The statements by the minister came after the release of UNESCO’s global education monitoring report and the suggestion made by UNESCO’s Education Coordinator in Brazil, Rebeca Otero that the country rethink its education model.

“In Brazil, we see a focused education in certain content in ENEM [National High School Exam] and university entrance test, and a curricula based only on textbooks. We do not see education as a qualifying instrument of people’s lives,” Otero is quoted by Agencia Brasil as saying.

Brazil’s Constitution stipulates that the federal government invest a minimum of eighteen percent of all revenues in education, while states and municipalities invest 25 percent of its revenues.

The National Education Plan (PNE) on the other hand, calls for Brazil to invest at least ten percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in education by 2024. Currently, the investment runs about 6.2 percent.