New Education Minister Has Advocated Educating Children ‘With Pain’

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The new Minister of Education chosen by President Jair Bolsonaro, Pastor Milton Ribeiro, has advocated educating children “with pain” in the past.

After his appointment as head of the Ministry of Education (MEC) was announced, social media posts retrieved a video of the pastor, released four years ago by the Presbyterian Church Jardim de Oração in Santos, SP, where he is still pastor. In it, he speaks to the evangelical community about the “rod of correction” and the relevance of disciplining children.

“Correction is necessary for healing,” said the pastor. “It will not be achieved by equitable means and gentle methods. Perhaps a very small percentage of children, precocious and gifted, will understand its argument. There must be rigor, severity. And I’ll go one step further, maybe some mothers will even be angry with me: they must feel pain.”

Pastor Milton Ribeiro is an attorney with a background in theology. Among the features that led to his choice is the “appreciation of family and values,” according to acquaintances and members of the government. In a message addressed to friends, after being announced to command MEC, Ribeiro said he believed it was “the time to give special attention to basic, primary and vocational education and to “promote higher education and scientific research”.

He also said he would work in coordination with states, municipalities, and their administrators “to change the history of education in our country.” He spoke in a conciliatory tone, saying that it is time for “a true national pact for the quality of education at all levels”. “We need everyone: the political class, academia, students, their families, and society in general. This ideal should unite us,” he added.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo