Brazil’s Minister of Education to Select Federal University Heads

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ordinance No. 1,373, dated July 18th, 2019, provides the executive secretariat of Abraham Weintraub‘s ministry with dozens of assignments that fall to federal universities.

The ordinance, a ministerial decree, states that all disputed appointments, all appointed positions (such as vice-presidencies and even faculty boards) will only be effected by the ministry itself. The decree also states that the minister alone may authorize flights and daily allowances. In other words, Weintraub seeks to control every university’s conference, meetings, and field research. It is seen as virtually extinguishing university independence.

He intends to hand-pick those who will tackle what he terms the “mess” of knowledge, and appoint those who will be partners in the privatization of universities and their production of knowledge.