Brazilian Education
Brazil is an immense country that has evolved a great deal since the time of its origin. Educating such a large population is a difficult task, but Brazil has created a public system that covers all levels of education quite well.
Brazilian education is regulated through the Federal Government, by the Ministry of Education. This ministry has outlined the guiding principles that organize educational programs. The local governments are then responsible for establishing state and education programs based on the guidelines proviced by the Federal Gviernment. The government also supplies funding for education. Brazilian children are only required to attend school for nine years, but this schooling is usually inadequate.
The Brazilian Constitution adopted in 1988 asserts that education is a right given to all, and that it is a duty of the State and the family to provide it. It also encouraged the promotion of collaboration of society in order to support the integral development of the human personality. The constitution wanted to prepare individuals to master the scientific and technological resources that would allow for the increased possibilities of common welfare. Other constitutional goals included protecting and d expanding cultural heritage as well as condemning any philosophical, political or religious beliefs that condoned unequal racial or social treatment.
Brazilian education is divided into three major sections, with several grades in each section. The Fundamental Education level is free for all citizens including adults, and is mandatory for all children between the ages of six and fourteen. The Secondry Education level is also free, but it is not mandatory. At public universities, Higher Education, including graduate degrees, is also free.
Pre-School Education is a completely optional education level and is meant to aid the development of children who are younger than six. It targets motor skills, cognitive skills, and social skills. This educational level includes day nurseries for those under two, kindergartens for those two to three, and preschools for children four and up.
The Fundamental Education level consists of nine years of education. Each year consists of two hundred school days and eight hundred hours of educational activity during the year. The main focus of the early years of Fundamental Education is literacy.
If students finish the Fundamental Education level they are allowed to progress to the Secondary Education level. This program takes three years and requires a minimum of twenty-two hundred hours of curriculum work over those three years. The subjects studied usually include History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Philosophy, Sociology and foreign language.
Finally, there is an optional Higher Education that may be completed after the completion of Secondary Education. Students must also pass a competitive entrance examination designed for their specific course of study. The universities in Brazil, as in most of the world, offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees, taking between four and five years.
In recent years, education has begun to take a position of more and more importance in Brazil, and while Secondary and Higher education are not required, they are being pursued more frequently.