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Brazil in a nutshell

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Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil), is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.

Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822. Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, although the bicameral legislature; now called Congress, dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified. Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.

Brazil is the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms have given the country new international projection. It is a founding member of the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations. A predominantly Roman Catholic, Portuguese-speaking, and multiethnic society, Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil

Brazil education policy

Education in Brazil is regulated by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Education, which defines the guiding principles for the organization of educational programs. Local governments are responsible for establishing state and educational programs following the guidelines and using the funding supplied by the Federal Government.

The Federal Constitution and the 1996 General Law of Education in Brazil(LDB) determine how the Federal Government, States, Federal District, and Municipalities manage and organize their respective education systems. Each of these public educational systems is responsible for their own maintenance, which manages funds as well as mechanisms and sources for financial resources. The Constitution reserves 25% of state and municipal taxes and 18% of federal taxes for education.

The 1988 Brazilian Constitution states that education is a right for all, a duty of the State and of the family, and is to be promoted with the collaboration of society, with the objective of

  • fully developing integral development of the human personality and his/her participation in the work towards common welfare;
  • preparing individuals and society to master scientific and technological resources which will allow the use existing possibilities to common welfare;
  • protecting, disseminating and expanding cultural heritage;
  • condemning any unequal treatment resulting from philosophical, political or religious belief, as well as any social classes or racial prejudices.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Brazil

Brazil education system

Education is divided into three levels, with several grades in each division. Fundamental education (the first educational level) is free for everyone (including adults), and mandatory for children between the ages of 6-14. Secondary education is also free, but it is not mandatory. Higher education (including graduate degrees) is free at public universities.

Pre-School education (Educação Infantil)

Pre-School education is entirely optional, and exists to aid in the development of children under 6. It aims to assist in all areas of child development, including motor skills, cognitive skills, and social skills while providing fertile ground for the later acquisition of knowledge and learning. There are day nurseries for children under 2, kindergartens for 2-3 year olds, and preschools for children 4 and up.

Fundamental Education (Ensino Fundamental)

Fundamental Education is mandatory for children ages 6-14. There are 9 "years" (as opposed to the former 8 "grades"). The current "First Year" broadly corresponds to the former Pre-School last year of private institutions, and its aim is to achieve literacy. Generally speaking, the only prerequisite for enrolling in first year is that a child should be 6 years old, but some educational systems allow children younger than 6 to enroll in first year (as long as they turn 6 during the first academic semester). Older students who, for whatever reason have not completed their fundamental education are allowed to attend, though those over 18 are separated from the younger children.

The Federal Council of Education (Conselho Federal de Educação) sets a core curriculum consisting of Portuguese, History, Geography, Science, Mathematics, Arts and Physical Education (for years 2, 3, 4 and 5). As for years 6, 7, 8 and 9, one or two foreign languages are also compulsory (usually English and also Spanish).

Each educational system supplements this core curriculum with a diversified curriculum defined by the needs of the region and the abilities of individual students.

Fundamental Education is divided in two stages, called Ensino Fundamental I (years 1-5) and Ensino Fundamental II (years 6-9). During Ensino Fundamental I each group of students is usually assisted by a single teacher. As for Ensino Fundamental II, there are as many teachers as subjects.

The length of the school year is set at at least 200 days by the National Education Bases and Guidelines Law (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação). Fundamental schools must provide students with at least 800 hours of activities per year. The actual school calendar is set by individual schools which, in rural areas, often organize their calendar by sowing and harvesting seasons.

Secondary Education (Ensino Médio)

Secondary education takes 3 years. The minimum is 2,200 hours of coursework over 3 years. Students must have finished their Fundamental education before they are allowed to enrol the Ensino Médio. Secondary education core curriculum comprises Portuguese (including Portuguese language, Brazilian and Portuguese literatures), foreign language (usually English, also Spanish and very rarely French today), History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Recently Philosophy and Sociology, which were banned during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), became compulsory again.

It is possible to take professional training along with mainstream Secondary education. Such trainings usually last 2 years and can be taken during the 2nd and 3rd years of Secondary education. Some Secondary schools provide professional training in Agriculture. Such schools usually have a greater amount of instruction hours per week and the complete course lasts 3 or 4 years.

Higher Education (Ensino Superior)

Secondary education is mandatory for those wishing to pursue higher education. In addition, students must pass a competitive entrance examination (known as vestibular) for their specific course of study. The number of candidates per available place in the freshman class may be in excess of 30 or 40 to one in the most competitive courses at the top public universities. In some particular courses with small number of vacancies, this number can be as high as 200[1].

Higher education in Brazil, as in many nations, can be divided into both undergraduate and graduate work. In addition to providing education, Universities promote research and provide stand-alone classes to the community.

The standard Brazilian undergraduate degree, styled "bacharelado", is awarded in most fields of arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematical sciences, or natural sciences, and normally requires 4 years of post-secondary studies at a certified university. Students who wish to qualify as secondary school teachers must complete a separate licentiate ("licenciatura") degree course, which, like a "bacharelado", also has a normal length of 4 years, but has a stronger emphasis on teaching methods and pedagogy. There is also a graduate in technology (whose graduates are called technologists), which emphasizes professional education geared to the labor market and the development of studies in the area of technology, especially in health, information technology, engineering and management. The degree in technology normally requires 2 to 4 years of studies in a certified university or college.

Five-year degrees leading to a professional diploma are awarded in select state-regulated careers such as architecture, engineering, veterinary medicine, psychology, and law. The professional degree in medicine requires in turn six years of full-time post-secondary studies. Residência, a two-to-five years internship in a teaching hospital is not required, but it is pursued by many professionals, especially those who wish to specialize in a given area.

Students who hold a four-year bachelor's degree or a five-year professional diploma are qualified for admission into graduate school (pós-graduação). Graduate master's degrees are normally awarded following the completion of a two-year program requiring satisfactory performance in a minimum number of advanced graduate courses (typically between five and eight classes), plus the submission by the degree candidate of a master's thesis (dissertação de mestrado) that is examined by an oral panel of at least three faculty members, including at least one external examiner. Doctoral degrees on the other hand normally require four years of full-time studies during which the degree candidate is required to complete further advanced graduate coursework, pass a doctoral qualifying exam, and submit an extensive doctoral dissertation (tese de doutorado) that must represent an original and relevant contribution to current knowledge in the field of study to which the dissertation topic belongs. The doctoral dissertation is examined in a final public oral exam administered by a panel of at least five faculty members, two of whom must be external examiners. Results from the dissertation are normally expected to be published in peer-reviewed journals, proceedings of international conferences, and/or in the form of books/book chapters.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Brazil

Higher education

Table 1. Institutions of Higher Education in Brazil in 2004

Universities University centers Integrated colleges Colleges, Schools, Institutes CET/FaT*
Brazil 2013 169 107 119 1474 144
Public 224 83 3 3 86 49
Public- Federal 87 46 1 - 6 34
Public- State 75 32 - - 28 15
Public- Municipal 62 5 2 3 52 -
Private 1789 86 104 116 1388 95
Private - Private 1401 26 60 97 1125 93
Private - Community 388 60 44 19 263 2
  • CET/FaT Centers for Technological Education and Collages of Technology (INEP, 2004b).

Source: Marina Becker Reifschneider Distance Education in Brazil and in the United States: a comparative view

Brazil has put significant resources into developing its higher education system over the past three decades. As a result, a system has evolved in which some institutions have achieved recognizable excellence in teaching and research, while, more generally, the majority of institutions have struggled to provide relevant, quality education at reasonable cost. Looked at in isolation, certain parts of the system are sound and productive. Taken as a whole, the system still has a number of large challenges to overcome.

About 15% of the age cohort is enrolled in higher education. This is quite low compared to other countries in the region (Argentina 36%; Chile 32%; Uruguay 30%; Venezuela, R.B. 29% [World Development Indicators 2001]) and to the OECD country average of 52% (OECD, 2001). Simply doubling the number of spaces offered, however, will not double the rate of coverage, because a demographic bulge of young Brazilians is reaching university age. Over the past 15 years, growth in private provision of higher education was roughly equal to the moderate growth of the university-age cohort, but now large absolute increases in enrollments would be needed simply to maintain the current rate of coverage. In addition, graduation rates from secondary schools are rising sharply and more older, working Brazilians are seeking tertiary degrees. In short, a larger percentage of a growing number of Brazilians are demanding higher education, and the system cannot keep pace with this demand under existing conditions.

Cost per student in public institutions, roughly R$14,000 per year in the federal system, is on par with OECD country averages while quality is not. Rigidities in funding and regulation create strong disincentives for cost-efficiency or quality. Public universities have been funded on the basis of input. Federal policy toward higher education, until recently, did not attempt to control costs or correlate funding to productivity. Other legislation and regulations, outside the control or influence of MEC, created built-in cost increases that did not improve the access, quality, or relevance of the education. University rectors have traditionally concerned themselves more with obtaining resources from the federal government than with managing the resources effectively within their institutions.

With a few notable exceptions, the quality of instruction and the relevance of the curriculum are below desirable standards. Historically, the Brazilian system - like those of continental Europe - is oriented to provide professional training rather than general or interdisciplinary education. Holders of a first university degree (graduação) are licensed to practice their profession by virtue of their diplomas. Such systems have been successful, productive, and of high quality under a variety of conditions. However, in Brazil, thanks largely to restrictive labor market regulation, the influence of professional associations in setting the curricula and the numbers of courses/places have served to limit the supply of professional labor, rather than to satisfy the demands of the labor market. Furthermore, in the Brazilian public system, a lack of coherence in research, teaching, and career advancement policies in public institutions has often led to a concentration of professors doing specialized research at the expense of undergraduate teaching. By contrast, many private institutions are driven by profit, and therefore do not undertake any research or pay salaries necessary to attract and retain high-quality professors.

The public system, which includes many, but not all of the country's finest institutions, provides higher quality education than the private sector, charges no tuition, and limits the number of places. Competition for admittance is fierce, and wealthy students do best because they can afford elite private high schools and special preparation courses for the entrance exams. Estimates on enrollment by income quintile show that two thirds of students are from the highest income quintile, while only about 5% are from the two lowest. It is a generally recognized problem that students from lower and lower middle class backgrounds have greater difficulty gaining entrance to the free, public system. If these individuals study at all, they are more likely to be in the private system, where they must pay tuition. Some financial assistance is available from the government and the institutions themselves, but it does not sufficiently address the needs of the students in the system, and much less the potential students who are excluded due to inability to pay.

Clearly, many important changes are underway within the system. The challenge is to focus attention on those that will promote the greatest progress in equitable access, quality, relevance, and efficiency. With this in mind, it is recommended the following steps. First, with respect to access: (a) the trend towards diversification through new instruments, such as sequential courses, and new institutional definitions (such as university centers) should continue; (b) the amount of targeted financial assistance for poor students should be increased; and (c) five and ten year enrollment increase targets should be identified, and progress toward improved coverage should be monitored closely. Additionally, the Government of Brazil has several policy options for increasing access to tertiary education that it may consider in the future. These include: i) increasing government and private funding of public institutions; in light of the current economic situation in Brazil, and the government's relatively high spending for higher education, it is unlikely that a large infusion of public funds for higher education is forthcoming. However, the addition of private resources could lead to an increased supply of places to the extent that the additional resources are used to educate and train students rather than to pay for administrative costs or research; ii) reducing costs per student at public institutions could be achieved in any number of ways and is best dealt with at the institutional level; and iii) charging tuition at public universities. This option is being used increasingly around the world as a means to maintain or increase institutional budgets. When combined with well thought out student aid schemes, this could have a positive impact on equity access.

Higher education structure

Secondary education is mandatory for those wishing to pursue higher education. In addition, students must pass a competitive entrance examination (known as vestibular) for their specific course of study. The number of candidates per available place in the freshman class may be in excess of 30 or 40 to one in the most competitive courses at the top public universities. In some particular courses with small number of vacancies, this number can be as high as 200.

Higher education in Brazil, as in many nations, can be divided into both undergraduate and graduate work. In addition to providing education, Universities promote research and provide stand-alone classes to the community.

Higher education begins with undergraduate or sequential courses, which may offer different specialization choices such as academic or vocational education. Depending on choice, students may improve their educational background with postgraduate courses Stricto Sensu or Lato Sensu. Higher education has three bases: teaching, research and extension, each with their own specific contribution to make to a particular course. Diplomas and certificates are proof of having passed through higher education.

The standard Brazilian undergraduate bachelor's degree (graduação) is awarded in most fields of arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematical sciences, or natural sciences, and normally requires 4 years of post-secondary studies at a certified university. Students interested in teaching careers at secondary schools can take an additional year in lecturing courses (licenciatura). Five-year degrees are awarded in the so-called professional careers such as architecture, engineering, veterinary medicine, and law. The undergraduate degree in medicine requires in turn six years of full-time post-secondary studies. Residência, a two-to-five years internship in a teaching hospital is not required, but it is pursued by many professionals, especially those who wish to specialize in a given area.

Students who hold a four-year bachelor's degree or a five-year professional diploma are qualified for admission into graduate school (pós-graduação). Graduate master's degrees are normally awarded following the completion of a two-year program requiring satisfactory performance in a minimum number of advanced graduate courses (typically between five and eight classes), plus the submission by the degree candidate of a master's thesis (dissertação de mestrado) that is examined by an oral panel of at least three faculty members, including at least one external examiner. Doctoral degrees on the other hand normally require four years of full-time studies during which the degree candidate is required to complete further advanced graduate coursework, pass a doctoral qualifying exam, and submit an extensive doctoral dissertation (tese de doutorado) that must represent an original and relevant contribution to current knowledge in the field of study to which the dissertation topic belongs. The doctoral dissertation is examined in a final public oral exam administered by a panel of at least five faculty members, two of whom must be external examiners. Results from the dissertation are normally expected to be published in peer-reviewed journals, proceedings of international conferences, and/or in the form of books/book chapters.


Problems in Higher education system

The main problems the Brazilian higher education system is facing at present are the following:

1. Access: in spite of the rapid expansion during the last ten years, the system is still small compared with those of other countries in Latin America. Also, most students in higher education come from medium- and high-income groups. The poorest sections of the population can only enter higher education today as a result of the great expansion at secondary level.

2. Finance: the new sections of the population trying to enter higher education lack sufficient financial backing. Places in the free public institutions are very restricted and the cost of private education is very high in terms of the incomes of these new groups aspiring to enter higher education.

3. Quality: the quality of higher education institutions in Brazil is very variable. Alongside institutions with international reputations we find many with low levels of teaching and little encouragement to undertake research.

4. Efficiency: public institutions - usually of better quality than the rest - suffer great problems of inefficiency in the use of public resources, resulting in a relatively small number of students attending them in terms of the amount of funds invested.

5. Curricular structure unrelated to the needs of the labour market: the content of higher education courses in Brazil lacks the flexibility to adapt to the needs of the labour market.

6. Little connection with the productive sector: in general, technological research and development is carried out in universities with little connection with the productive sector.


Expansion and access to Higher Education

Higher education enrolments more than doubled in the last ten years. In spite of this significant growth, the gross rate of enrolments at the higher level in Brazil is very small when compared to international levels, even when compared to some of other comparable countries in Latin America. Nevertheless, there is a reasonable consensus of opinion on the need to settle on the most effective way to provide a more lasting solution to the problems of access and equity in higher education. In the 1980s growth in enrolments did not even keep up with population growth.

Between 1980 and 1994 expansion of higher education was quite restricted: growth of only 20% in enrolments; reduction of 3.5% in the number of higher education institutions and 26% growth in the number of courses. In 1994, total enrolments on undergraduate courses were 1.7 million. The higher education system at that time consisted of 851 institutions. There has been a significant increase in enrolments and completions of higher education courses in Brazil after 1995.

The growth in supply of courses in recent years has being greater in towns in the interior than in state capitals. That an ‘interiorization’ of higher education is occurring because of an appreciable growth in the numbers of courses, so that many towns which previously had no HEI now have one. This has brought great benefits to students who had been excluded on a regional basis. Many who had not been able to move to the state capital to study at the higher level and now have the chance to do so in their hometown.

Socio-economic data concerning students in Brazilian higher education institutions show the marked presence of those coming from social groups with average and high incomes. It can even be stated that the supply of places is basically a response to the demand for higher education that these classes have created. With the ever-growing demand and a far greater number of students able and desiring to enter higher education, private institutions have had ample room to increase their supply.

The growing expansion of secondary education and the increase in the number of students leaving this level of education suggests that there is greater pressure for obtaining chances of education at a higher level coming precisely from the poorer classes in society. The growth in supply of courses in recent years has been greater in the poorest states and in towns in the interior than in the southwest or south and state capitals. Projections concerning access to higher education indicate the growth among students from lower-income families in the total numbers of new entrants to higher education. This is happening due to the increased flow of students coming from public secondary education and the increasing demand for better-qualified personnel with university degrees for jobs which previously did not require them.

One of the main areas for public policy in relation to access is the design of the means of financing studies and maintaining lower-income students in the system. The policies of increasing rates of schooling at higher level with improved quality at this level, especially in public institutions, increasing the number of places on evening courses, the broad re-design of the means of financing studies and maintaining lower-income students in the system, are some of the possible initiatives being put into place. The country has experienced several mechanisms for increasing access to higher education, including student loans programmes, scholarships in private institution in exchange of tax exemption and, quotas. The policy of quotas, which is very controversial, appears in this context as a transitional strategy. It is also important to emphasize that the expansion of evening classes in the public sector is still insufficient to meet the potential demand from students who are finishing their public secondary education during the evening ‘shift’. A great part of this potential demand has been met by the private sector. In Brazil, 68% of private enrolments are for the evening period, in which most courses do not require full-time attendance.



Universities and Polytechnics in Brazil

There are about 2 300 HEIs in Brazil of which 11% are public and 89% are private institutions.

Among the public HEIs 42% are federal, 34% are state operated and 24% are run by municipalities. The municipal HEIs are mainly colleges, schools and institutes.

Among the private HEIs 78% are profit-seeking institutions while 20% are non-profit institutions run by religious, community or philanthropic organizations.

Research is mainly conducted at the 178 universities, which also grant the majority of Master's and Doctoral degrees.

Some of the universities in Brazil

  • Escola Federal de Engenharia de Itajuba
  • Escola Técnica Federal de Goiá
  • Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo Fundação Getúlio Vargas
  • Federal University of Paraiba
  • Instituto Militar de Engenharia
  • PUC-Rio
  • Pontifí&cia Universidade Católica do Paraná
  • Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas
  • Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
  • Universidad Federal de São Paulo
  • Universidade Católica de Brasília
  • Universidade Católica de Pernambuco
  • Universidade Estadual Paulista
  • Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense
  • Universidade Federal Fluminense
  • Universidade Federal da Bahia
  • Universidade Federal de Alagoas
  • Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora
  • Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto
  • Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
  • Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
  • Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
  • Universidade Federal de Uberlândia
  • Universidade Federal de Viçosa
  • Universidade Federal do Ceará
  • Universidade Federal do Paranà
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
  • Universidade Federal fo Espírito Santo
  • Universidade de Brasília
  • Universidade de Fortaleza
  • Universidade de Passo Fundo
  • Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
  • Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina
  • University of Campinas
  • University of São Paulo

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

Administration and finance

Higher education institutions in Brazil are, according to their administrative organization, classified as public or private, depending on the juridical nature of the organizations that maintain them. Public institutions are maintained and administered by the federal, state, or municipal governments. Private institutions are maintained and administered by individuals or legal entities and may be for-profit or not-for-profit (SESUa). Access to higher education is Brazil is through very competitive national entrance examinations; since public education, including tertiary and graduate education, is completely free of charge, entrance examinations to public schools are even more competitive. According to their academic organization, they may be Universities, Specialized Universities, University Centers, Specialized University Centers, Integrated Colleges and Colleges, Higher Education Institutes and Schools of Higher Education, and Centers for Technological Education. Universities and Specialized Universities conduct research and extension activities in addition to teaching (INEP, 2006).

Source: Marina Becker Reifschneider Distance Education in Brazil and in the United States: a comparative view

Quality assurance

There are large differences in quality of higher education institutes in Brazil. There are universities that have a high reputation all over the world and offer very high quality education; on the other hand, there are dozens of universities that fail the national evaluation tests applied by the Ministry of Education (MEC).

The evaluation process results in the quality level. Accreditation, re-accreditation of Universities, authorization, recognition and renewal of recognition are regulatory procedures. Evaluation identifies a scenario checking their quality. The Sinai (National System for the Evaluation of Higher Education) is responsible for these evaluations,and it is composed of four instruments for evaluation:

  • The institutional self-evaluation, carried out continuously and with results to be presented every three years;
  • The foreign institutional evaluation, performed locally by a committee of evaluators;
  • The assessment of the conditions of education (ACE) applied to courses where the evaluation committee deems necessary to check;
  • Integrated Evaluation Process of Educational Development and Innovation Area (ENADE), which will be applied to test students in the middle and end of the course in four major areas: human sciences, exact, technological and biological and health .

For a society to know the quality of each educational establishment and have parameters to choose where to attend graduation, the register of institutions and courses will contain a complete dossier with data legal, academic, and census evaluation. The results of the Sinai explain the decisions of the MEC on the recognition of courses and accreditation of institutions.

Source: http://www.nesobrazil.org/dutch-organizations/brazilian-education-system/quality-assurance

Country's HEIs in the information society

Towards the information society

The socio-economic inequities in Brazil strongly contribute to prevent a significant portion of country population to benefit from the access to modern information technologies. According to studies, (Waisenfisz, 2007) more than 31 million people had internet access in Brazil in 2005. However, this represents only 17,2% of Brazilian population. These results put Brazil in the 76° position among the 193 surveyed countries. In Latin America its rank is behind Chile (28,9%), Costa Rica (21,3%), Uruguai (20,6%), and Argentina (17,8%). The inequity of access among Brazilian regions and groups of people are even more dramatic. State of Alagoas rates were of 7,6%, while the Federal District presented 41,2%. The low-income group presented 0,5% access rate, in opposition to the higher income group with 77% access rate.Through education, social exclusion is to be reduced in order to avoid social inequality. To achieve this, the Brazilian Ministry of Education proposes a set of development programs in different but integrated directions. Some of these programs are: equipping schools with necessary structure to use computers and internet connection; enhancing teacher education and training stressing the development of information technology skills; providing open and distance learning opportunities; and offering free and quality digital learning resources. In order to take advantage from the information technologies individuals need to have access to information and knowledge production. However, in order to have access, it’s necessary to know how to use these new technologies. The currently policies for education sector deal not only with the increasing of digital access but also with the learning skills required to use and make the most of information technologies. The National Program for informatics in Education – Proinfo plan for the next three years consists of supplying 138.405 public schools in Brazil with computer labs and broadband internet connection, and offering training on educational technology for K-12 teachers of all parts of the country. Proinfo is a result of a partnership among the federal government, states and cities to equip schools with computers. A variety of digital content is brought to school with the new computers, such as: educational videos, multimedia learning objects, hypertexts, and opens source software. Digital Educational Repositories

One of the first initiatives in Brazil to provide free digital learning material through the web was the Interactive Virtual Education Network - RIVED, a Ministry of Education project. And this was the pioneer attempt in the country to use learning object concept and open standards to produce and publish digital material (Nascimento, 2003). RIVED learning objects consist of problem-based multimedia interactive activities, covering diverse topics, mostly aimed for high school level. The learning objects are stored in a repository, and users can find them by using a search engine. When users access the search results the full description of the materials are available, and also a teacher’s guide. An important feature for assessment and recommendation is implemented for those who access the resources. RIVED sponsors multidisciplinary teams at universities for research and production of learning objects. Consequently, the project major benefit is the development of a culture of digital learning resources production for free dissemination and reuse, in the Brazilian universities. While the teams support the creation of resources to feed the repository, they also help to enrich the pre-service teachers training by having them as team members. The Portal of Public Domain is another repository MEC implemented to provide anyone the free access to literature, academic papers, audio and video files, among others. Many videos produced by TV School are stored in this repository and available for use.

Although the web has a great amount of content, it is time consuming for a teacher to search everywhere for published resources. And many educators go into MEC web address hoping to find easily the learning material, but they have to navigate in different pages looking for what they need. Considering all these, the idea of a major gateway for locating and using varied format of learning objects was the natural progress. Therefore, a new project has been developed to bring together, in the same repository, the whole digital educational resources produced or sponsored by MEC, besides all the other ones identified in Brazil and other countries, intended for the sharing and reusing. The repository, named International Bank of Learning Objects, is to support the Teacher’s Portal, where teachers will find examples of how to use the digital resources, will have access to open source software, and will be able to assess and know other people opinions about each learning object. The public learning resources will support K-12, vocational and higher education in diverse knowledge fields.

copied from Enhancing Quality and Lessening Inequity Anna Christina Aun de Azevedo Nascimento.

Information society strategy

Most efforts in technological development and innovation have been concentrated in certain of Brazil’s universities and not in the business world. Research and development is a strength of higher education of Brazil. Today, almost all states have federal universities, and foundations to encourage research. However, these institutions do not have the same kind of autonomy, especially in terms of continuous, regular and guaranteed financing.

On the other side, Brazil’s scientific and technological development in the area of business is still at an initial stage. Brazilian companies have been late in incorporating and developing technology. It is also a consequence of the weakness of business sector's own capacity of research. On top of that, the collaboration between academia and industries is also very insufficient taking into account the needs of Brazilian development. Besides the poor performance of the Brazilian companies in relation to innovation, there is some prejudice that exist among Brazilian scholars in relation to the cooperation with the private sector.

Brazil shows a paradox: on the one hand, there is in the business sphere a low capacity for absorbing human resources into Science, Technology and Innovation (S&T&I); on the other hand, the system of training these resources has shown a large increase in supply especially in terms of postgraduate programmes. In the last two decades, Brazil’s scientific capacity has grown systematically year by year at an increasingly faster rate. The ranking of countries, according to their participation in world scientific production – Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) of the National Science Indicators (NSI) – is evidence of Brazil’s progress in this field. In 1981, Brazil was in 26th place; in 2001, it already occupied a worthy 18th position. On the other side, from 2000 to 2003 a slow growth was observed in technological development and innovation in Brazilian industry.

The fact that national research being concentrated in universities - in particular at the postgraduate level - makes it very dependent on the training of those with master’s and doctoral degrees. In this context, the importance of new strategies to bring the network of universities together with the world of business becomes more important. An important step in this direction was taken by the recently voted and approved Innovation Law. New means of finance – Sector Funds – and identification of priority sectors in industrial policy, as well as the formulation of the post graduate development plan by CAPES, indicates the desire to continue these trends.

It may be said that a move towards innovation and a clearer preparation for future expansion in R & D activities within growing companies is beginning to be developed recently. There are, however, obstacles hindering this development from proceeding more rapidly. These obstacles are mainly due to organizational inflexibility, problems in the marketplace and the absence of systemic synergy. However, what is most noticeable in the two periods studied is that over 30% of companies complain of lack of qualified personnel. This shows that, even where there is clear difficulty in absorbing manpower, there are questions of quality that have to be overcome.

Education reform

An important part of the Brazilian education reform began in 1995 with the creation of a federal department called the "Secretary of Distance Education" (SEED). The goal of SEED is to use information and communication technologies toward supporting and improving the quality and dissemination of education in this country with a population of 170 million people spread across nearly 1/2 of South America's land mass. Under SEED's "Proinfo" program, computers and access to the internet were issued to all public schools in Brazil, under the condition that the schools present an appropriate pedagogical strategy. To this end, each municipal government was allocated funding to establish a "Nucleus of Educational Technology" (NTE), making computer labs and networks available for teachers, and offering educational programs for teacher training.

Another important advance occurred in 1997, when the Brazilian Ministry of Education decreed that all K-12 school teachers have an undergraduate degree, and all university teachers a masters degree, by the year 2006. This meant that at least 50% of the Brazilian teachers and professors would have to upgrade their skills in a relatively short time, resulting in a huge and widespread demand for teacher training, as well as need to create solutions for efficient and effective teacher education.

The Distance Education Laboratory (LED) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (South Brazil) has been meeting this challenge for several years by forming partnerships with educational institutions all over Brazil, implementing programs using Teleconferencing, Videoconferencing and Internet-based distance education programs, making it possible for teachers to avoid leaving their posts to learn. Although the subjects taught via the LED are varied, they are mainly related to information technology and education, according to each institution's specific needs and budget.

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

Some Virtual Campus and other interesting initiatives are listed here:

The "School of the Future" of the University of São Paulo, is an interdisciplinary laboratory investigating the question of how new communications technologies can improve learning at all educational levels. Begun in 1989 as a departmental laboratory in the School of Communications and Arts, its growth and increasingly interdisciplinary nature took it out of that home in 1993 and placed it under the aegis of the Office of the Dean of Research, where it continues to flourish, financially self-sustaining and independent of the University budget, but with strong encouragement and guidance from the central administration.

Connected to the changes and innovations in the educational field, Universidade Gama Filho created the UGF Virtual Campus. Through the website http://www.campusvirtual.br, students and visitors have access to libraries, classrooms, professors’ rooms, events and the Knowledge City, a digital inclusion project developed by the UGF Distance Education Unit in partnership with the Palmas City Hall, in the State of Tocantins.

Cederj, the Center for Distance Learning of the State of Rio de Janeiro, is a consortium of six public universities effectively collaborating to extend full university diploma courses to residents of underserved communities far from large urban centers.

CVA-RICESU, the Network of Catholic Institutions of Higher Education, is a consortium of sixteen private universities achieving exceptional synergy through the coordinated offerings of online courses from the participating institutions.

As a pioneer in the field of distance education La Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana (English: Ibero-American University Foundation) (FUNIBER), has set up a Virtual Campus, which is accessible via the Internet. FUNIBER uses as its framework the two worlds of university and training. Its purpose is to broadcast and share Spanish knowledge with Ibero-American people. In Brazil the Centro Universitário Leonardo da Vinci and the Universidade do Contestado are members of FUNIBER.

An e-learning project that has already trained 50 thousand students.


Further information:

  • An excellent account of distance education developments in Brazil can be found in the article: Porto, S., & Berge, Z. 2008. Distance Education and Corporate Training in Brazil: Regulations and interrelationships. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning [Online] 9:2. Available: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/478/1033

Interesting Programmes

  1. Faculdade Pitágoras
  2. Virtual Public University of Brazil a.k.a. Universidade Virtual Publica do Brasil
  3. Universidade de Brasilia Centro de Educação a Distância
  4. Universidade Virtual do Centro-Oeste
  5. UVB Campus
  6. Open University of Brazil a.k.a. Universidade Aberta do Brasil

Re.ViCa Case-study

At the moment, there is no case study for Brazil.


Lessons learnt

References


Internal evaluation Brasil


> Countries

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