The suspension for 60 days of the implementation of the New Secondary School (NEM), created in 2017, had a positive impact on the educational environment. The Ministry of Education (MEC) has suspended the deadlines for part of the National Schedule for Implementation of the NEM and will await the conclusion of the public consultation for the evaluation and restructuring of the national policy on secondary education. For specialists and entities consulted by Agência Brasil, the issue should be dealt with through a dialogue between the government and the sector. The Brazilian Union of Secondary Students (Ubes) considered the suspension important for teachers and students. “Stopping the implementation of the New Secondary School is an important step for students and teachers who are suffering the impacts of a measure approved without the broad debate and improvement of those who experience school on a daily basis, in addition to enabling the construction of a new proposal for the Brazilian High School”. The president of Ubes, Jade Beatriz, defended the participation of students in the elaboration of the new curriculum. “It is a victory, but it is not enough. Suspension is a break. We don’t want high school to go back to what it was before the reform. But it is necessary to include students in this discussion. It is a very defining moment in our lives,” she said. “Without a good education and professional option, we become cheap labor”, she added. The president of Ubes signaled that she will also carry out a national mobilization for the total and immediate repeal of the new high school. Todos pela Educação, a non-profit and cross-party civil society organization founded in 2006, approved the suspension of the implementation of the new secondary education. However, the director of Public Policies at the entity, Gabriel Corrêa, argues that the MEC’s decision needs to be made in agreement with the state departments of Education and with clarity to teachers and students. “It’s part of the game and it’s important that there be a suspension during this period of public consultation. It’s what we’ve been calling a tidying brake. But the Ministry of Education needs to give more clarity to the Education departments, professional schools and students what this will mean on a daily basis, in the coming months”. The federal government will await the conclusion of the public consultation for the evaluation and restructuring of the national policy on secondary education. Contributions can be made in public hearings, workshops, seminars and national surveys with students, teachers and school administrators about the experience of implementing the New Secondary Education in the states of the federation. Katharine Ninive Pinto Silva, professor of the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), understands that the suspension of the schedule was necessary, but insufficient. “It is necessary that this model of secondary education be revoked, in view of the fact that it deepens the inequalities of access to knowledge historically produced by humanity.” The National Campaign for the Right to Education, a civil society organization in the field of education created in 1999, understands that the current government’s measure is a “first step” and requires subsequent measures. “It is obviously not enough. And there was still a question to answer what the schools are going to do in this consultation period and in the 60 days: do you still have homemade brigadeiro? Back to philosophy?”, said the general coordinator of the entity, Andressa Pellanda. However, Andressa believes that the educational policy suspended by the current government cannot be mended. For her, the biggest problem is in the proposed model. “It does not serve for the full formation of students, their formation, for citizenship and for work”. 2023 and 2024 Enem The 2023 National Secondary Education Examination (Enem) will not be impacted by the 60-day suspension of the New Secondary Education. The tests, which assess students’ school performance at the end of basic education and serve as a gateway to higher education, are scheduled to be applied on November 5th and 12th. Gabriel Corrêa, from Todos pela Educação, clarifies that the changes foreseen in the New High School, which started in 2021, will not be considered in this year’s Enem, as they were not fully implemented. “This year’s Enem will not be adjusted to the New High School and it wouldn’t be anymore. There would even be no changes in any scenario. The old ordinance, which has now been suspended, already indicated that the 2023 Enem will follow the old high school model”. For Corrêa, the big discussion is around the application of next year’s Enem tests. “In the 2024 Enem, [conforme] was foreseen in the new model of high school, the student would have common tests on the first day, with all students taking the same exam. And on the second day, students would have options to choose which exams to take. This Enem scheduled for 2024 should be postponed”, says Gabriel. Proposals Katharine Ninive Pinto Silva, proposes that the repeal of the new secondary education can be done “implementing, in fact, the Curriculum Guidelines for Secondary Education of 2012, which guide training for the world of work, which can integrate the training disciplines general to professional training disciplines in the integrated modalities. An example of this implementation are the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology”. Corrêa does not advocate revoking everything that is in the law and returning to the previous model, because, in his assessment, some advances would be lost. It prioritizes the adjustment of weak points to overcome challenges, such as improving the infrastructure of schools, supporting teachers and training school directors. He is committed to maintaining three premises of the new model: expanding the youth’s workload, making curricula more flexible and integrating professional technical training. “Value training and technical education in secondary education, which today, in fact, is not integrated”.
Agência Brasil
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