PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES

                                ____

             FAREWELL TO CHIEF JUSTICE ARTHUR CHASKALSON

                         (Draft Resolution)

1) notes that the President of the Republic has in terms of the
   Constitution and the Rules called a Joint Sitting of the two Houses
   for Friday, 10 June 2005, at 11:00 to bid farewell to the hon Mr
   Justice Arthur Chaskalson, the outgoing Chief Justice of the Republic
   of South Africa, and to welcome the incoming leadership of the
   Judiciary;


2) recalls the wish expressed by the President in his state of the
   nation address delivered on 11 February 2005 for Parliament to create
   an opportunity to bid farewell to Judge Chaskalson; and


3) resolves, subject to the concurrence of the National Assembly, to
   invite retired Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson to attend and
   participate in the Joint Sitting of the Houses on 10 June 2005.

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORT



                         FRIDAY, 3 JUNE 2005

 (1)    The Minister of Trade and Industry


     (i)     National Credit Bill [B 18 – 2005] (National Assembly –
         sec 76) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
         introduction published in Government Gazette No 27529 of 26
         April 2005.]


     Introduction and referral to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and
     Industry of the National Assembly, as well as referral to the
     Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms of Joint
     Rule 160, on 8 June 2005.


     In terms of Joint Rule 154 written views on the classification of
     the Bill may be submitted to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
     within three parliamentary working days.

  The following Parliamentary support staff accompanied the delegation
to the study tour:

• A global raise in the level of schooling of the population.
• An increase in the quality of instruction at all levels.
• The reduction of social and regional discrepancies, concerning access
  and survival in public education.
• The democratisation of the management of public education.

  The Plan specifies five priorities:

• Guaranteeing access to and ensuring completion of compulsory primary
  and lower secondary schooling through eighth grade to all children
  aged 7 through 14.
• Guaranteeing compulsory primary and lower secondary education to those
  who did not have access to it at the proper age or to those who did
  not complete it, which includes eradicating adult illiteracy.
• Expanding schooling at the other levels.
• Enhancing the status of education professionals.
• Developing an information and evaluation system at all levels of
  instruction and in all types of education.

  In its quest to strengthen schools in Brazil, the Ministry of
Education enhances the goals of unifying schools as the key factors in
the educational process, as well as improving the consistency of
federal government policies to improve primary education. New forms of
assistance have been created, aimed at directly supporting schools and
teacher performance in the classroom, so as to provide the necessary
support to face the challenge of ensuring school space for all
children. Sending the funds directly to the schools not only
strengthens their autonomy, but also serves as a strong incentive for
community participation in management of the schools. Furthermore, this
policy helps to promote school accountability through the visible
results of its undertakings, which encourages striving for new quality
standards in educational management.

  The Constitutional Amendment 14 established in 1996 the primary
jurisdiction of the states and municipalities as being responsible for
providing primary education, with the federal government role being to
mobilize and serve as a catalyst, as well as providing technical
assistance, funds and other mechanisms, operating in a redistributive
manner. The new National Education Guidelines and Standards Law (LDB –
Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional), also from 1996, is
guided by the goals of both decentralizing and adding flexibility to
the organization and carrying out of teaching, facilitating a greater
adaptation of programmes and pedagogical practices to suit local
circumstances.

  The Ministry is responsible for the improvement of the quality of
primary education and enhancing the teaching profession and in ensuring
that a minimum investment per student is met, especially in the lower
income regions of Brazil. Associated with this goal is the
implementation of the Education Plan and the Fund for the Development
of Primary Education and the Teaching Profession that seeks to ensure a
co-ordinated and efficient strategy to increase the employment services
for teachers in Brazil. This includes redress against the unfairness of
teachers’ income guaranteeing increases in the average salaries,
correcting disparities in the teaching profession and, therefore,
improving the quality of education. This fund is composed of
contributions from the federal, state and municipal governments, with
the federal government responsible for adding more money to the fund
whenever the amount per student does not reach the minimum stipulated
nationally.

  The National Fund of Education Development (FNED) is responsible for
the following financial policy programmes:

• The National Programme for School Nutrition.
• Agreements for school renovations.
• School Agreements delegated by the Minister of Education.

  One of the goals of the transformation of education in Brazil has
been driven by the country’s guarantee for the provision of financial
support for the education transformation agenda, which is aimed at
ensuring a regular flow of public funds to education. This guarantee is
related to several basic guidelines. The first is the existence of
constitutionally earmarked resources for the maintenance and the
development of education.

  The 1988 Constitution establishes that states and municipalities must
invest at least 25% of their tax revenue in education. The Federal
Administration must invest a minimum of 18% of its tax revenue, 30% of
which must be earmarked for actions to eradicate illiteracy and
maintain and develop primary and lower secondary education.

  In addition, compulsory primary and lower secondary education receive
additional funding provided by corporations under the form of a
compulsory social contribution called Education Salary, amounting to
2,5% of the pay-roll. One third of these contributions is allocated to
the National Education Development Fund and two thirds make up similar
funds, in the States where the contribution is collected. The Education
Salary Fund is used only to public elementary schools.

  In 1996 Brazil initiated a constitutional amendment approving the
creation of the Fundo para Manutenção e Desenvolvimento do Ensino
Fundamental e Valorização do Magistério or the Fund for Maintenance and
Development of the Fundamental Education and Valorization of Teaching
(FUNDEF), which was formally introduced in 1998. FUNDEF necessitated a
reform in the funding of the public fundamental education system in
Brazil.

  FUNDEF automatically redistributes public expenditures earmarked for
compulsory primary and lower secondary education, thus contributing to
the elimination of the problems relating to the sharing or
misapplication of educational resources. The resources of the Fund in
each State are made up of 15% of all tax revenues and are redistributed
between state and municipal administrations. Based on the amount
available in each State, the amount per student per year is calculated
and the funds are allocated to the State and municipal education
systems, according to the number of students actually enrolled.

  In addition to ensuring equity in the distribution of funds in each
State, the constitutional amendment that created the Fund also provides
a mechanism to reduce inequalities by increasing the availability of
funds to be earmarked for education. In the States where the
expenditure per student:year is below the nationally defined sum, the
Federal Administration provides the complement.

  The basic premise is that funds should be allocated according to the
needs and commitments of each system, expressed by the number of
enrolled pupils. This is a means of stimulating universalization of
access and coverage. The funds are directly applied in education
activities to those who enrol more students receive a larger amount,
giving a positive focus to the financing of education. Before, those
who did not fulfil specific guidelines were punished. Now, those who do
carry them out are rewarded. In addition, FUNDEF ensures the autonomous
funding of the system. Although international loans are important for
special projects, the routine funding of the system cannot depend
solely on foreign resources.

  The Brazilian educational system has been remarkably improved in
recent decades, particularly over the last decade. As a result, there
has been a sharp drop in the illiteracy rate, a huge increase in
enrolments at all levels, and a gradual increase in the average
schooling of the population, particularly of the female population.
Several laws have been passed and many different campaigns and
programmes have been launched to deal with the problem of illiteracy in
Brazil.

  Among the several literacy programmes are the following programmes:

  The Fundescola Programme was initiated in April 1998 in order to
develop an initial set of school-based instruments and support
structures to improve school equity and effectiveness and to increase
public awareness around the issue of school quality in Brazil. The
Programme has had several shapes over the years. The second phase of
the Programme, approved in June 1999, focused on improving and
expanding the set of tools developed in the first phase, extending
these to additional schools, and more aggressively engaging the
education establishment and the public sector in the process of school-
based development.

  The third phase of the Programme is aimed at completing the work
involved in the development of the tools and processes and scaling
these up within Brazil.

  The three main components of this project are to:

• Raise schools to minimum operational standards, including implementing
  school-managed rehabilitation projects, and providing furniture,
  equipment and books to the schools.
• Develop and implement a school development process, including
  developing strategic planning for schools.
• Strengthen the education sector overall, including funding school
  councils and improving local education secretariats.

  The Programme also intends to:

• Promote public engagement and parents’ sense of ownership of schools
  by giving school councils financial resources to manage.
• Raise the equity of school quality by helping schools attain Minimum
  Operational Standards.
• Help schools to prepare and implement their own strategic “School
  Development Plan” to improve student achievement.
• Provide financing to schools to execute their School Development
  Plans.
• Improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning and raise student
  achievement by providing integrated instructional models along with
  technical assistance and training to local secretariats of education.

  This programme is for elementary education for the youth and adults
who do not have any form of schooling or those who started schooling
late. The Programme covers 2200 municipalities in the North and South
East of Brazil.

  The National Programme for School Nutrition has been identified as
central to education transformation in Brazil. Brazil’s school
nutrition programme is the largest in the world and the oldest food
distribution programme in Brazil. It covers 38 million learners in all
primary public schools and day care centres (crèches/Early Childhood
Development centres). Brazil’s school nutrition programme has changed
over the years from a human assistance focus to a human rights focus.

  The current budget of the Programme is US$430 million. The main
provision of the Programme is that 70% of the fund must be used for
basic food items. This is to ensure that students get nutritional food
and that schools do not buy cheap industrialised foodstuff. Moneys that
are not spent by school at the end of the financial year are returned
to the States.

  All students regardless of their social status are entitled to school
nutrition in Brazil, as long as they are at school.

  The main objectives of the school nutrition programme are to:

• Contribute to the general development of learners.
• Ensuring educational progress.
• Enhancing the learning abilities of all learners.
• To promote good nutritional habits.
• Contribute to local developmental needs of communities, particularly
  the poor, rural, and minorities.

  The Federation of States (municipalities) is responsible for the
Programme. The money is only earmarked as a conditional grant for
buying food. States are responsible for transferring the money to
schools. Although the allocations vary according to municipalities,
poorer schools tend to get more funding because of their needs.

  Social control and monitoring of the Programme is done by civil
society organisations, communities, parents and other local structures.
The main aim of establishing social control and monitoring measures is
to ensure that the Programme caters and meets the nutritional needs of
learners. The educators also play a fundamental role ensuring the
effective implementation of the Programme and in fostering nutrition
education to the learners. The various subjects within the curriculum
also cover healthy food habits and proper notional foodstuff.

  In order to ensure that schools implement the Programme effectively
and efficiently, all States have a provision that requires schools to
have proper control and accountability measures. This is where schools
draw up a working plan with their communities, parents, and civil
society.

  The States and the Federal government have their own measures to
ensure that there is no corruption and that it the learners who get the
food. They monitor the purchase orders in relation to the menus. The
States also take the responsibility to verify and monitor all the
documentation relating to food orders, purchases and deliveries.

  Since dietary requirements differ across the regions in Brazil, there
is no nationally fixed menu for schools. However, schools are required
to ensure that the learners get nutritious food. In all the schools the
menu varies according to age group.

  The School Nutrition Programme in Brazil is faced with several
challenges including the following:

  (a)   The vastness of the Programme

  Because of the vastness of the Programme, there is a constant need
for more innovative measures to ensure its effective implementation and
coordination by all States and schools.

  (b)   Accountability Mechanisms

  The vastness of the programme also means that there should be strong
accountability mechanisms. In some schools there are poor
accountability mechanisms for the use of moneys for the Programme.
However, if such shortfalls are detected, the States establish support
systems to ensure that such mechanisms are established.

  (c)   Insufficiency of the Programme

  Despite it being the largest in the world, there is a need to
increase the per capita allocation. There is also a need to expand the
Programme to secondary schools because some of the learners in
secondary school are from poor households.

  In order to ensure that all learners, particularly those living in
rural areas and long distances from their schools, Brazil has
established a scholar transport system. A fixed amount is transferred
to the regions for scholar transport[1]. The allocation for the fund is
done through the Census of Standards of Living in Brazil.

  The Committee met with the National Secretariat for Literacy and
Diversity. The mandate of the Secretariat is to implement Brazil’s
framework that deals with diversity in education through literacy. One
of the critical aspects of the transformation in Brazil has been the
recognition that social inequality has a racial profile. The
Secretariat, therefore, tries to ensure diversity through literacy and
expanded access to educational opportunities, particularly to
minorities.

  Up to 4 million people have been participating in Brazil’s literacy
programme since its inception in 2003.

  The Programme tries to ensure hydrogenous interaction and diversity
through racial relations and tolerance. It formulates some form of a
diversity action for Afro-Brazilians in order to ensure that they also
have better results and access to education and thus enhances their
performance in the economy and the political activities of Brazil.

  The Secretariat is also tasked with seeking and implementing ways to
reduce ethnic and racial differences.

  The major challenge that is facing the Secretariat is the lack of
teachers that understand the history of Afro-Brazilians and diversity
of the African continent at large.

  Although the main focus of the Secretariat is at elementary level, it
also has diversity programmes that are targeted at secondary learners.
There are also programmes that are targeted at university students,
particularly in ensuring that Afro-Brazilian learners do not evade
going to university.

  The Directorate also offers scholarships and has a tax reduction
policy for universities and colleges that offers scholarships to poor
learners and those with scholarships that are targeted towards Afro-
Brazilians.

  There are currently 100 000 scholarships of which 30 000 were
allocated to Afro-Brazilians. Brazil also has a social quota in public
schools, which requires that 50% of the learners should be from poor
households. Currently, there is a policy proposal that is aimed at
ensuring that 50% of university learners are from public schools
because learners from private schools tend to enrol in public
universities and therefore limit the space for those coming from public
schools.

  The Directorate is facing the following challenges:

• Gender imbalances: There is the low participation of men in education
  in Brazil. As it stands there are more female learners benefiting from
  the programme than male learners. The challenge that is facing the
  Directorate is to attract more men into the education system,
  particularly to higher education institutions.
• Large concentration of poor learners in Brazil: currently 52% of all
  children below 6 years in Brazil are from poor families. About 65% of
  blacks and 34% of white learners in Brazil are from poor families.


• Racial variation in access to education: a young boy that is white in
  Brazil has an average of 8,4 years of schooling compared to a Black
  boy who has 6,8. These differences are also reflected in the education
  attainment for black and white parents.
• Education attainment versus the labour market: there are extreme
  inequalities in Brazil with 85 million of the people earning about 10%
  of the income revenue. This is reflected in the levels of education
  before they enter the labour market. When people enter the labour
  market their differences become even worse.
• Under- or non-qualified teachers: there are 7 000 teachers that are
  indigenous in Brazil and about 3 500 (50%) do not have university
  degrees.
• Poor performance of teachers in mathematics and science subjects:
  There is a poor performance of teachers in mathematics and science
  subjects. This results in the poor performance of learners in these
  subjects.  The main aim of the directorate in this regard is to try
  and intensify the training of mathematics and science teachers.

  The program offers students with age/grade disparities the
opportunity to return to the regular educational path. Increasingly
adopted in various states, the programme has resulted in benefits for
the local educational systems. The availability of a greater number of
student openings in the early stages of primary education has resulted
in the normalisation of the educational system and the reduction of its
costs. Overcrowded classrooms have been eliminated. Perhaps the most
noticeable result has been the fact that the opportunity to return to
the regular educational process, offered by the accelerated classes,
has motivated the return of children and adolescents who had dropped
out of school to work.

  The Directorate has the following four priorities:

  (a)   To eradicate illiteracy


  The eradication of illiteracy in Brazil from the core of all the
programmes that are geared towards empowering the poor and indigenous
people. Brazil has a very high illiteracy rate and this is exacerbated
by the large numbers of children who are out of school.


  (b)   Ensuring quality basic education in all schools in Brazil

  The major problem facing education in Brazil is quality education.
Although access to education has grown substantially over the last
years, there is a failure rate of 30%. About 36% of learners in schools
in Brazil should be in fourth grade but they are not because they fail
their grades or drop out of schools every year. Fifty-five percent
(55%) of learners have a problem learning Portuguese.

  (c)   Training of unqualified teachers

  There is a large supply of unqualified educators in Brazil. About 76%
of teachers who teach basic education do not have college degrees.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of teachers in elementary education do not
have qualifications. There is also a lack of teachers in chemistry,
physics, biology and mathematics.

  (d)   Encouraging learners to stay in school

  There are still large numbers of learners who are out of school in
Brazil. The major challenge is to ensure that they are encouraged to
stay in school. This will be done in line with other social priorities
like strengthening learning system in schools in Brazil.

  The directorate has also established the following priorities with
regard to basic education:

• To redefine the Policy for Funding of Basic Education: the major
  initiative will be the replacement of the fund for Redistribution of
  Elementary Education with Basic Funding for Education as a whole. It
  is hoped that these will facilitate the flow of funds to cater for all
  children between 0 – 17 years of age. This will ensure that basic
  education gets an increase of about 25%. Brazil is in a process of
  establishing a minimum pay for teachers, it is hoped that the new
  funding approach will also ensure funds for this initiative.
• Democratisation of basic education: The main initiative is to ensure
  the active participation of parents and communities in the education
  system. This will also ensure the establishment and strengthening of
  school councils and election of school directors. The proposal is that
  school directors be nominated by communities in order to ensure that
  parents take an interest in the education of their children.
• Increasing the value of professional work particularly to male
  learners in order to encourage them to stay in school: by raising
  awareness of the value of education it is hoped that more male
  learners will have a reason to stay in school and proceed with their
  studies.
• Establish a programme that will expand the pool of qualified
  educators: various programmes have been established with the various
  States and municipalities to ensure that underqualified educators
  improve their qualifications through distance education and the
  offering of more scholarships.

  There are 160 universities in Brazil with 3,5 million students.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of them are in public universities and the
rest are in private universities. Public universities in Brazil are the
ones responsible for most of the research with only about 10% of
research activities taking place in the private universities. Although
Higher Education is free in Brazil and each state has a public
university, it is believed that only about 10% of children in Brazil go
to universities. As a result Brazil has made it a priority to expand
access to higher education to cover all the qualifying children.

  Because of the large concentration of unqualified teachers in
Brazilian schools, the government has partnered with universities to
ensure the establishment of targeted training courses for unqualified
teachers through distance and further education programmes.

  The following are the main factors limiting access to higher
education in Brazil:

  (a)   Poor investment in higher education

  The major challenge is that universities were neglected for many
years in Brazil. The government is putting in place programmes to
ensure that there are more funds channelled to Higher Education.

  (b)   Poverty

  Poverty is a major attributing factor to the low participation of
learners in higher education in Brazil. Although higher education is
free, learners tend to leave school for the labour market in order to
support their families. Some of the learners are finding it difficult
to meet their everyday expenses at university and then revert to the
labour market.

  (c)   Proliferation of private universities

  There is a large proliferation of private universities in Brazil and
most of them offering poor degrees. Brazil is in a process of putting
in place more effective measures to control and monitor the content of
private universities in order to ensure that they offer quality
courses. The other issue that has been identified with private
universities is that teaching normally takes place in the evening or
weekends and that affects the quality of the education that they are
offering.

  Because of the long history of neglect of higher education, Brazil
has no policy or mechanisms that are aimed at monitoring the course
content of Higher Education institutions. This has resulted in a
variation of teaching standards, which affects the content and quality
of higher education. There are several policy proposals that are aimed
at initiating more control measures for the higher education sector in
the country.

  In order to address the above challenges Brazil has devised various
programmes that are intended to ensure affirmative action in education.
These programmes are intended to ensure that students get full
scholarships that will cover their tuition and daily expenses while in
university. Brazil has a national policy that ensures that 10% of
learners in higher education are from poor communities and the
minorities.

  There is an indication that a large number of the learners in fields
such as medicine, law and engineering come from well-off families.
Therefore, the Federal government is looking at measures to ensure that
poor learners also have access to these fields.

  The government of Brazil has put in place several policy proposals to
ensure that there are more funds channelled to higher education.

  The private sector’s role in education, particularly in higher
education in Brazil is very minimal. This is largely because of the
long history of neglect of higher education in the country. However,
there are indications of keen interest from the private sector to
invest in higher education, particularly in sectors like engineering,
science and technology and medicine.

• The qualification and recognition of teachers in the public schools.
• The enrichment of the teaching-learning process.
• The improvement of the quality of teaching.

  The Programme is largely offered via the mainstream media. The TV
school channel offers four hours of programmes aimed at elementary
teaching repeated three times a day, and a one-hour programme focusing
on high school teaching. A programme entitled "The Jump Towards the
Future" has been specifically made to guide teachers and managers in
their activities. School TV also produces a series of educational
videos for in-class support concerning school subjects such as
Portuguese, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Citizenship,
Ethics, Cultural Identity, Hygiene, Nutrition, and several others. A
large number of elementary and secondary schools are being supplied
with a technology kit that includes a satellite antenna, a TV set and a
VCR. Schools are expected to compose their own video collection using
the educational programmes made available through TV School.

  The programme was started in 1996 largely to meet learners who are
out of school and offer various programmes to cover more curriculum
issues to all learners. The Federal government with the municipalities
distributes the TV’s to schools across the country.

  The Brazilian school TV programme has reached over 50 000 schools and
over 20 million learners and 170 00 teachers. The Programme is not a
substitute for teachers but aimed at fostering creative ways of
teaching.

  The major challenge in the inception of the programme was the lack of
technological skills from teachers to effectively manage the programme.
It was therefore decided to establish a parallel programme that was
aimed at assisting teachers in using the School TV programme. Some
teachers were also concerned that the programme might cause job loses.
But with the training programme they realised that they were the
integral part of the effective implementation of the programme and they
started accepting it. The programme has since grown to DVDs, CD roms,
computers and other technological means. Brazil has recently launched a
180-hour course with the 27 States and their universities. This course
is aimed at training teachers in the effective administration of the
programme and offers a certificate to teachers who attend the course.

  The programme covers all subjects in the curriculum of elementary and
secondary school in Brazil. There are also plans to expand the
programme to cover the curriculum of universities in the coming years.

  What has been established is that the programme is not enough on its
own. It needs the interaction and participation of teachers in order to
ensure that there is active involvement of learners.

  The programme has been subjected to eight different quantitative and
qualitative appraisals ranging from 1995 to 2004.  Recently it was
discovered that the Programme is still facing the following challenges:

  The main challenge that is facing the programme is the insufficiency
of the available funds. School TV by its very nature is expensive. With
more funding the programme could be expanded to reach more children.
The Brazilian Parliament is currently lobbying for more funds to be
allocated to the programme.

  The coverage of some rural parts of the country is limited by the
lack of cable connections that link up with these areas. However, these
are very few and with more funding it is hoped that more rural schools
will have access to the programme.

  Teachers in general need more training to learn how to operate the
equipment, and how to adapt the use of the new media to the classroom.
Brazil has started a separate programme aimed at empowering teachers to
be able to operate the electronic equipment. This programme offers
courses in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and basic
computer skills.

  The Secretariat is facing the following challenges, which form part
of its core activities and priorities:

• The coverage of children between the ages 0-6 years is only 16 %.
• Economic and social problems with a large supply of parents who do not
  have a reliable source of income.
• Low quality of education in Brazil.
• A large percentage of the budget for education goes to transport.
• 10% of learners have morbid obesity and 57% are anaemic.

  The main objective for the Secretariat of Municipal Education is to
provide better education. The Secretariat has the following priorities:



• To make literacy education a part of a social and educational
  inclusion strategy in order to provide quality in basic education.
• To ensure the creation and alignment of the State with the FUNDEB as
  the fund established to maintain and develop basic education and value
  its professionals.
• To ensure the expansion of vocational education in line with the
  sustainable growth of the nation’s economy.
• To ensure higher education reform with a main focus on strengthening
  public universities.

  There are roughly 33 million functionally illiterate Brazilian
individuals over the age of 15 years. Most of them have education years
of less than four years of schooling. The State has realised that it is
not possible to build a socially inclusive nation with justice and
fairness for all unless this social debt, particularly illiteracy, is
addressed. Therefore, the Federal Government has integrated literacy
training with basic education for young people and adults so as to
guarantee continued learning. This policy is executed by means of two
complementary programmes. The Literate Brazil has so far benefited 3,7
million young and adult students and trained 165 000 literacy teachers
in 4 000 cities throughout country. The programme will reach more than
2,3m young people this year and produce, by 2006, 10 million newly
literate citizens. For its part, the Youth and Adult Education (EJA)
transfers funds to states and municipalities for the expansion and
improvement of public schools. In 2004, the programme encompassed 1,9
million students.

  The Ministry of Education has increased investment in teacher
training, debating new curricular processes and implementing a range of
programs designed to enhance the quality of basic education in Brazil.
The increase in school enrolment in recent years, especially in primary
and secondary education, has produced a quantitative evolution,
although qualitative results have fallen far short of expectations.

  To address this situation, the Federal Government has proposed
creating a fund, known as FUNDEB, for short, to maintain and develop
basic education and value its professionals. FUNDEB will channel
funding to all levels of basic schooling, from early childhood
education to secondary education. The injection of more funds will make
it possible to improve both teacher training and teacher’s pay, while
at the same time re-equipping public schools and keeping them in good
condition, thus helping to bring about improvements in the quality of
basic education.

  In addition to FUNDEB, the Ministry of Education has maintained and
introduced a number of policies designed to improve and structure basic
education, such as continuing teacher training and education, school
busing for millions of students in rural areas, the implementation of
school libraries and activities to encourage reading.

  After a decade without any increases, the current administration has
raised the annual grant provided for school meals, while extending the
benefit to public and charity nurseries and day care centres as well as
indigenous schools. It is the world’s largest school meal programme,
feeding 38 million students or 21% of the Brazillian population. The
Nation Textbook Programme is another important policy instrument. It
distributed 111 million books to 30,9m students in 2004. Furthermore,
last year the programme was extended for the first time to secondary
schools and will encompass all students at the secondary level by 2006.
The Ministry is also introducing a new School Attendance Monitoring
System to help reduce dropout and truancy rates as well as ensure more
reliable public fund transfers to programmes such as Bolsa Familia,
which benefits more than 12 million children.

  Developing an efficient industry policy, bolstering production chains
and structuring local production arrangements are fundamental for
national economic growth, while also requiring consistent investment in
vocational education. The Federal Government has taken steps to
increase the number of students enrolled in technical education,
assuring them a solid foundation on which to enter the labour market.
For 2005, not only have budget appropriations for vocational education
been increased, but new projects designed to enhance the sector have
been adopted. These include the integration of secondary schools with
technical courses, so that thousands of young people can complete this
part of their education with professional qualification. Moreover, this
year the Escola de Fabrica Programme will open 500 schools in firms
throughout Brazil to train 10 000 adolescents and young adults between
the ages 15 and 21. In 2004, all 34 Federal Centres of Technological
Education (FATECs) were recognised as institutions of higher education,
giving them more autonomy to create new courses.

  In the 1960s, the student movement took to the streets in Brazil to
confront the military dictatorship under the banner of university
reform. Today, almost 40 years later, the struggle has been revived by
a democratically elected popular government. The administration of
President Lula is striving to ensure that public universities are more
highly valued and is strongly advocating education as an entitlement of
every Brazilian.

  This is the vision that guides higher education reform, one founded
on a republican conception of the state in which public institutions
play the role of promoting and regulating expansion, while spurring
income and knowledge redistribution. In a broad national debate
scheduled to continue through February 15, the Ministry of Education
will receive proposals for a draft reform bill that will be sent to the
office of the Presidency of the Republic and, subsequently, to congress
for a new round of public consultations.

  The reform is motivated by a five-part rationale, as follows:

  The liberalization of Higher Education in the last ten years has led
to the accelerated proliferation of private institutions, with adequate
state regulation. Currently, public universities and colleges offer 29%
of all openings, while private institutions account for the remaining
71%. The federal government seeks to increase the public sector’s
participation in Higher Education by setting up new public
universities, expanding new centres and creating 200 000 new openings
in federal institutions over two year period. The goal is to ensure
that the public sectors share of available openings in Higher Education
rises to 40% by 2011.

  The Brazilian Federal Constitution states that the provision of
education to all is a duty of the state, while also allowing scope for
private institutions. However, in performing the role delegated to them
by the state, quality must be a central component of the activities
undertaken by those institutions. In its regulatory capacity, the state
must ensure fulfilment of this principle by guiding an orderly
expansion of higher education and avoiding the proliferation of
institutions whose only goal is to maximise short-term profit. To this
end, the Ministry of Education has proposed an entirely novel approach,
including instruments, which, in conjunction with the National Higher
Education Assessment System (SINAES), assure more effective regulation
of private colleges and universities. The proposals prohibit election
campaign funding by trustees of private institutions of higher learning
and cap foreign ownership at 30%, among other provisions.

  In recent years, the opening of new colleges, higher education
centres and universities in Brazil has not always been accompanied by
proper assessment procedures or an adequate concern for quality,
revealing the state’s fragile oversight and regulatory capacity. In the
Federal Government’s view, it is not enough to create university
openings. It is equally important to ensure that the learning process
matches the needs and expectations of the nation by preserving quality
and promoting social inclusion. The Ministry of Education plans to
effectuate the social function of higher education through instruments
such as Internal Development Plan (IDP) and more stringent requirements
for the establishment of universities and university centres.

  Today, only 9% of Brazilians between the ages of 18 and 24 are
enrolled in institutions of Higher Education, a figure far below that
registered in Argentina, where the proportion is 32%, and Canada, where
it is 62%. Brazil National Education Plan, 2001-2010, prescribes a
level of 30%.

  The reform proposal includes actions to guarantee student attendance,
such as paid academic traineeship and lotteries, to fund student loans.
The state’s role is to pursue policies that effectively assure access
to Higher Education for low-income students by promoting the
establishment of federal institutions in regions with little or no
Higher Education. The reform Bill also proposes that 50% of all
openings in federal universities be reserved for candidates from public
schools and that quotas be introduced for blacks and members of
indigenous communities.

  Guaranteeing access to Higher Education for low-income youth is one
of the Ministry of Education priorities. The University for all
Programme (ProUni) will offer 1122,000 grants in the first half of 2005
to cover 100% or 50% of tuition costs in private institutions for low-
income students and public school teachers without university degrees.
The programme will also benefit blacks and indigenous people. The goal
is to create 200 000 openings in two years.

  Democratisation of Higher Education in Brazil refers to the building
of a participative educational model with high social value capable of
promoting the full exercise of citizenship. The reform bill calls for
the end of shortlist, the direct election of rectors in public
universities and the creation of Social Councils in universities to
guarantee participation by all segments of society.

  Rectors of federal universities are appointed by the President of the
Republic for a fixed term from shortlists of three candidates produced
by each institution’s academic council.

• 645 municipalities of the State of Sao Paulo.
• Has 89 Teaching Boards, 89 Regional Teaching Officers, 89 Teaching
  Supervisors and 89 Technical/Pedagogical Assistants.
• 5 306 State School Units.
• 4 902 Supervisors.

  The goals of the programme is to:

• Develop peace culture.
• Enlarge cultural horizons and life perspectives for children,
  teenagers and adults, promoting quality of life and social inclusion.
• Relate activities carried out during weekends with pedagogical
  projects of the school; thus guaranteeing its educational goal.
• Incentivise the population to use school space in a responsible
  manner.
• Contribute to the reduction of violence levels, by means of preventive
  and social/educational actions.

  The different sectors of the civil society: enterprises, non-
governmental organisations, unions and other institutions are taking
part as partners of the Family School Programme in an important and
effective demonstration of the exercise of social responsibility.

  Besides those partners that have a macro reach, the Regional Co-
ordinator of the Programme and the School Units also have the autonomy
for the creation-localised partnerships.

  Institutions take part in the programme in different ways:

• Supplying human resources and materials.
• Developing educational projects.
• Stimulating voluntary work.
• Sponsoring and carrying out different activities.

  More than giving sustainability to the Programme’s actions, the
participation of the civil society, by means of partnerships and
voluntary work, contributes for the diversity of characters and
identities in the community of Sao Paulo to be contemplated in school
spaces, strengthening the principle that peace culture may only be
built in a collective fashion.

  Rede do Saber, which means Knowledge Network, is the information
technology and communications infrastructure implemented by Sao Paulo
State Education Department providing virtual interconnection for all
regions in the state in a wide-reaching interactive network that is
part of IntraGov.

  Rede do Saber is the largest high-speed public network in Brazil and
Latin America. It now comprises 100 videoconferencing rooms, over 2 500
computers, 9 generating studios and an operation centre to monitor
network use, support logistics and provide system management support.
This entire infrastructure is interconnected 24 hours, 7 days a week,
365 days a year.

  In all, there are 100 points located in 75 municipalities around the
state in the 89 local Education Directorates. These points are
continuously connected using latest-generation multimedia technology to
create the most favourable conditions for development training for the
different educational agents.

  The purpose of the programme is to expand opportunities and
incentives, and enhance conditions for the ongoing training of the
large number of educational agents in the State of Sao Paulo, it aims
at redressing the social deficit of the past, with the definitive
inclusion of community sectors who are the margins of the education
system, and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of teaching and
learning processes. On this basis, the policy of the Education
Department under the coordination of the Secretary, attuned to the
guidelines of the policy of Governor Geraldo Alckmin’s administration,
is that this can only be done by redeeming another important social
deficit from the past: the inclusion of its possibilities and
challenges. It is the teachers who will be the agents of all the main
changes in educational work that the Sao Paulo and Brazilian
communities want and need. Also the programme provides sustentation for
the State Education Department development of continuous training
programmes.

• Analyse the Brazilian funding model to see how access to education
  could be expanded in all grades and at Higher Education, particularly
  for poor learners.
• Analyse the Brazilian Literacy Programmes to see how it could be used
  to strengthen the country’s Adult Basic Education Programme.
• Analyse the Brazilian Feeding Scheme Programme in order to enhance the
  country’s Feeding Scheme.
• Analyse the Brazilian Teacher Development model to see how it could
  benefit non- and underqualified teachers in the country, particularly
  in strengthening the pool of qualified teachers teaching subjects such
  as maths and sciences.
• Analyse the Brazilian Higher Education model, particularly in public
  universities to see how it could be used to expand access to higher
  education for poor learners.
• Follow up on donated School TV programme to see how it could be used
  to benefits learners in the country by using television channels.
• Undertake an analysis of the role of municipalities in education in
  Brazil in order to see how municipalities in South Africa could expand
  their involvement in education funding, school maintenance, etc.