Investing in public education and science to build a new world.

The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear to anyone who wants to see which side President Jair Bolsonaro is on. Since the beginning of his term, he has been systematically attacking public servants in order to hand over our most important state-owned companies to the greed of large international economic conglomerates.

He chose as his primary enemies educators, artists, scientists, students, in short, everyone who knows that the earth is round. This comes as the crisis, already severe, deepens, caused by the economic projects of Minister Paulo Guedes that destroy jobs and benefit big capital.

The pandemic made this very clear in the type of "aid" given to informal workers and the unemployed, and in the trillions of reais allocated to bankers, who produce nothing. It's worth remembering that the president still hesitated to implement the aid of R$600 to R$1.200 approved by the National Congress for those who need it most.

His pettiness becomes apparent day by day as he becomes a poster boy for a scientifically unproven coronavirus remedy, and his ineptitude at the head of the government. The disaster isn't even greater only because the governors have been more sensible at this time. Even so, in many states, government action is still insufficient to improve the production of the ingredients necessary to overcome Covid-19.

As a result, healthcare workers are exposed to contamination due to a lack of protective equipment when caring for patients. Various categories of workers are at risk due to a lack of adequate protective procedures. Those who work in cleaning and garbage collection, public transportation, supermarkets and other food service sectors, and people who are not in social isolation are left to their own devices.

Specifically in education, it's a real mess. Governors and mayors are implementing distance learning without considering that almost half of the students don't have a computer at home or access to free internet. Teachers also need a suitable infrastructure for distance learning.

Governments should seize this critical moment to encourage the production of necessary supplies for combating the coronavirus in national industry, repeal Constitutional Amendment 95 – known as the spending cap – and urgently invest in public health, education, communication, and cultural services.

Regarding public education, it could immediately approve the permanent Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Enhancement of Education Professionals (Fundeb) with increased resources, raise the National Minimum Wage, and have states and municipalities expand school infrastructure, preparing them for the return to classes after the pandemic.

Investments in education at all levels are essential for the development of scientific research, including the discovery of medicines and a vaccine against the coronavirus. And everyone is seeing that only public universities are developing projects and research.

With science and intelligence, we will emerge from this crisis stronger. A fraternal world, valuing the collective and the social, where solidarity and generosity prevail. Let's get to work building this new world.

By the way: where is the Minister of (In)Justice, Sergio Moro, at this crucial moment for the country?