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Odara Dias is a researcher on racial inequalities and education at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP).

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Q&A with Odara Dias: “Education Must Go Hand in Hand With Other Public Policy, Such as Public Safety, Nutrition, and Health”

This post is also available in: Português

The following is part of a series of interviews produced by the Inter-American Dialogue’s Education Program that features Brazil’s Black population’s educational trajectory, challenges, and future opportunities.

In Brazil, efforts to build a legitimate and lasting democratic project must respond to the historical challenges and realities of a majority Afro-descendant population (55.5 percent, according to the 2022 census). While Brazil often projects an image of racial harmony abroad, its Black population faces severe economic, social, and political disadvantages at home. This disconnect limits Brazil’s potential for development, preventing it from leveraging its diverse society to address regional challenges in a hemisphere that yearns for innovative responses to inequality, social cohesion, and citizenship safeguards.

The context for this interview series could not be more appropriate. Recently, discussions over Brazilian inequalities, especially ethnoracial ones, have regained visibility at home and abroad. In 2023, the federal government re-established the Ministry of Racial Equality and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, bodies responsible for implementing public policies to combat racism and promote the rights of Black and Indigenous populations, respectively. In addition, the country is reforming the national curriculum frameworks for secondary education, which could present a window of opportunity to address educational deficits and consider the demands of historically marginalized populations.

At the international level, while participating in the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Brazil voluntarily adopted the 18th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) related to racial equality (in addition to the current 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda). In addition, the Lula and Biden administrations resumed the Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER), an initiative focused on education, healthcare, violence reduction, justice, and preserving the culture and memory of marginalized racial and ethnic populations. Similarly, Brazil has established cooperation channels with countries such as Colombia and Spain, providing exchange activities and sharing experiences of overcoming racism in scientific research, education, history, and culture. Also, during Brazil’s presidency of the G20, the country focused on inequality as the central theme of its four priorities at last year’s summit in Rio: sustainable development, social inclusion, the fight against hunger and poverty, and global governance reforms.

Considering this context and seeking to understand how the Brazilian education system produces unequal educational development trajectories, we spoke to Odara Dias, a researcher at Afro, a research and training center on race linked to the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP).

Lucas Martins Carvalho (LMC): How do you see the Brazilian education system and its shortfalls with Black populations?

Odara Dias (OD): Two characteristics in the Brazilian education system are detrimental to a democratic and egalitarian education: Eurocentrism and racism. Unfortunately, schools are still often the first place where Black children face racism these days. It is possible to observe multiple accounts of racist behavior/racism practiced by other students, teachers, and even principals. Secondly, despite Law 10.639/03, which made the study of African and Afro-Brazilian social, political, and economic contributions compulsory, curricula are still predominantly Eurocentric, constantly denying the knowledge and existence of Black populations. We can say that today, schools have often contributed to the reproduction and maintenance of racial inequalities.

LMC: What were the educational challenges for Black populations before the COVID-19 pandemic? What is the magnitude of its impact on the educational trajectory of these groups?

OD: There are serious gaps in school retention between Black and White students. According to the 2019 Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD)1, 71.7 percent of young people out of school were Black, and only 27.3 percent were White. Regarding illiteracy rates, in 2019, 3.6 percent of White people aged 15 and over were illiterate, while among Black people, this percentage reached 8.9 percent.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the educational inequalities that already existed in the country. With the closure of schools and the transition to remote education, many Black and low-income students were left without access to the necessary resources to follow distance learning classes, such as computers, the internet, and adequate space to study at home. This resulted in an increase in school dropouts and learning gaps among these students. Another factor that has contributed to the impact of the pandemic on the education of the Black population has been the increase in police violence in many communities and the growth of food insecurity. These problems directly affected the lives and mental health of students and led to difficulties in concentrating on school activities and an increase in learning losses.

LMC: Can you give an example of the day-to-day intensification of the educational exclusion of the Black population in the post-pandemic period?

OD: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire Brazilian education system. As the “3rd Racial Inequality and Covid-19 Report” (from the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning) points out, in addition to race and class inequalities, to grasp the magnitude of educational inequalities, we need to consider the different conditions of public and private schools, regional disparities, as well as their housing infrastructure, and access to remote learning equipment.

Considering that the Black population is the majority group in all three levels of basic education in the public school system (the equivalent of elementary, middle, and high school education in the US) and that most of these schools do not have proper resources and equipment, such as internet access and teaching materials, the COVID-19 pandemic widened racial inequalities and marginalization in education.

A direct example of educational exclusion in the aftermath of the pandemic is the registration numbers for the 2021 National College Entrance Exam (ENEM), which reached its lowest figure since it was reformulated in 2009. According to data from the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (Inep), the proportion of Black students who enrolled to take the test (a prerequisite for admission to almost all universities in Brazil) fell from 61.3 percent in the 2021 ENEM to 53.8 percent in 2022. The impact of the pandemic on family incomes and the increase in the cost of living in Brazil, coupled with educational inequalities, help to explain such a decline.

LMC: Now that we can look back with a bit more distance on the COVID-19 years, can we say that the post-pandemic has left a mark or changes the educational bottlenecks mentioned?

OD: The post-pandemic moment should be an opportunity to revisit and close the bottlenecks in the education of Brazil’s Black population. It’s important to remember that the pandemic has aggravated pre-existing challenges in our education system. Still, universal, quality education requires a constant and permanent policy commitment involving all societal sectors.

Some actions that can be taken include:

1 – Investment in school infrastructure: The government must invest in adequate school infrastructure, especially in underserved regions. This includes providing technological equipment and quality internet access.

2 – Teacher training: Teachers must undergo specific training on racial issues and anti-racist education to address these issues in the classroom appropriately and inclusively. In addition, there needs to be a national policy that values education professionals.

3 – Inclusive school curriculum: The school curriculum must adequately comply with Law 10639/03 without stereotyping the Black population and promote anti-racist education. This is important not just so that Black students can identify and feel a sense of belonging in the school environment but also for White students because anti-racist education contributes to building a fairer and more equitable society, develops empathy and social sensitivity, as well as combating prejudice.

4 – Differentiated public policies: There must be specific public policies for the Black population that consider socioeconomic and racial inequalities. These policies can include scholarship programs and incentives for professional training.

LMC: Regarding public policies, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities that the current national scenario presents for recovering learning and improving the educational trajectory of Black populations?

OD: A significant challenge for any public policy in Brazil is the country’s continental dimensions. It is necessary to understand regional differences and the diversity of our population when designing these policies. As stated in the 3rd Report on Racial Inequality and COVID-19, “the media have often pointed out that children from rural areas, such as quilombola and Indigenous communities, as well as black, brown and Indigenous children from urban areas, mainly on the outskirts (of cities), don’t even have pencils and paper to write on, let alone access to electricity, drinking water, sewage, the internet, cell phones and a quiet place to study.” Therefore, more significant investment is needed in schools, especially those in low-income areas, which do not have adequate resources to provide quality education.

However, the national situation also presents some opportunities for the recovery and improvement of the educational trajectory of the Black population. The readjustment of the scholarship funding given for scientific research and postgraduate studies from the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES)3 and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and the increase in the number of these, will provide better conditions for low-income students and offer them improved opportunities to remain in university. In addition, the federal government’s announcement of a Racial Equality Package in March 2023, which includes creating working groups focused on education, presents an essential opportunity for building a more inclusive and equitable education system. Furthermore, the dialogue between the state and social movements, such as the Black Movement (Movimento Negro) and associated movements that work at the grassroots level to improve the daily lives of these communities, is proving to be a powerful tool for building public policies.

LMC: What would be the post-pandemic priorities to guarantee the right to a quality education for the Black population?

OD: Racism in Brazilian society is structural and structuring. The educational system and its curricula have been building stereotyped and discriminatory images of Black subjects and populations. There is a need to create curricula that consider the diversity of histories and cultures of the Brazilian population. In short, we need to invest in school infrastructure, combat structural racism, increase access to education, and promote anti-racist education. These actions are fundamental to guaranteeing a more inclusive and equitable education for all students, regardless of their color or ethnic origin.

Furthermore, we must not lose sight of the fact that guaranteeing education goes hand in hand with other public policies. For example, access to health, safety, and food. These are crucial elements in ensuring Black students complete their educational trajectory.

 


1. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is a federal public administration entity and the country’s main geographic and statistical information provider. The IBGE’s National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) monitors fluctuations and the short-, medium- and long-term evolution of the labor force, as well as other information necessary to study Brazil’s socio-economic development.

2. Quilombola is a term used to describe people who live in Afro-descendant communities characterized by traditional ways of life and ancestral territories. Historically, quilombos were communities of runaway enslaved people who resisted the colonial regime in Brazil.

3. CAPES is a foundation within the Ministry of Education in Brazil whose purpose is to improve the quality of Brazil’s faculty and staff in higher education through grant programs. CAPES is mainly concerned with training doctoral candidates, pre-doctoral short-term researchers, and post-doctoral scholars.

COMENTARIOS DE TARACIUK BRONER:

Q & A:

Q

¿Qué tan válido ves tú — o legítimo — el temor que reporta la Casa Blanca de que aumente la migración haitiana?

A

“Una política de seguridad que funcione debe tener dos pilares: una visión punitivista donde quien comete un delito vaya preso, pero con debido proceso y bajo investigaciones por un poder judicial independiente y, por otro lado, una serie de políticas que sean más sociales y preventivas que eviten la comisión del delito.” 

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