The National Education Plan and the educational revolution

Brazil today possesses the indispensable conditions to promote the educational revolution dreamed of by us and by great masters such as Anísio Teixeira, Paulo Freire, Darcy Ribeiro, Florestan Fernandes, and many others. We have financial resources, a defined public policy, and the political will of the government and society.

This is because education has been elevated to the top of national priorities. Budgetary resources invested saw an extraordinary increase during the Lula and Dilma governments, jumping from R$ 34 billion in 2003 to R$ 115 billion in 2015.

Resources from 75% of oil royalties, guaranteed by the law passed in 2014, have started to flow into the education budget.

The definition of financing sources, such as oil in this case, shows that Brazil will not experience "Dutch disease" (economic degradation resulting from exchange rate imbalances caused by oil exports).

Our oil production is breaking records every month, exceeding 2.660 barrels per day. The volume of royalties allocated to education is growing at the same rate.

One thing is certain: what happened, for example, with Venezuela, which discovered its oil reserves in 1970, the same year Norway discovered its own, will not happen here. The two nations had different fates.

Venezuela's oil, in the early 70s, ended up in the hands of governments indifferent to poverty, inequality, and the country's fate, remaining so until it was rescued decades later, in the late 90s, by the Hugo Chávez government. Since then, Venezuela has invested its oil revenues in education and other social areas.

Norway, for its part, right at the beginning of its exploration, passed an oil law similar to Brazil's, sanctioned by President Dilma in 2014, and massively invested oil revenues in education, technological development, and innovation. Today, Norway boasts the highest Human Development Index in the world.

With resources secured, education policy balanced, regulatory frameworks ready, and planning with goals and strategies defined in the National Education Plan (PNE), it is time for governments and society to roll up their sleeves and make the dream of educational revolution a reality.

In this regard, President Dilma, in her speech on the day of Minister Renato Janine Ribeiro's inauguration, indicated four priority areas of national education policy to be considered: the first, according to her, would be to improve cooperative federalism in order to coordinate municipal, state, and national functions, since the Union, the state, and the municipality share responsibilities and demand improvements in education.

The second axis involves changing the basic education curriculum to allow students access to content that can develop logical reasoning and interpretation as a starting point for learning.

The third axis, also of extreme importance, is to value and qualify teachers and principals, and to create a national career path for teaching professionals.

The fourth axis highlighted by President Dilma concerns improving the country's education structure by encouraging the use of technologies, techniques, and access to software.

In addition to this effort by the federal government, within the National Congress we are establishing the Parliamentary Front in Defense of the Implementation of the National Education Plan, with the objective of mobilizing government bodies, parliaments, and society to monitor the implementation of the National Education Plan and the development of state, district, and municipal education plans as foreseen in the Law.

The law that established the National Education Plan (PNE), with goals and strategies to be fulfilled between 2011 and 2020, imposes on governments and society the need to establish frameworks for the federative collaboration regime and methods of mobilization for this great challenge.

Developed nations, even with their basic problems solved, invest an average of 7,5% of their GDP in education. Brazil needs much more, considering the centuries-long backwardness in which we still find ourselves. Therefore, broad mobilization and commitment are necessary so that the National Education Plan (PNE) does not become just another dead letter on paper.

We managed to include in Goal 20 of the National Education Plan (PNE) the expansion of investments to at least 7% of GDP in the 5th year of the law's implementation and 10% of GDP by the end of the decade. This is progress that could lead to a considerable improvement in the quality of education.

In addition to Goal 20, already mentioned, Goal 17 stands out by providing, with defined strategies, for the promotion of quality education through the appreciation of public school teachers in order to equalize their average income with that of other professionals with equivalent schooling.

Goal 18 ensures, within two years, the existence of career plans for professionals in basic and higher public education; Goal 16 guarantees, by the last year of the National Education Plan's validity, that 50% of basic education teachers complete postgraduate courses; Goal 15 foresees that, in a collaborative regime between the Union, States, Federal District and municipalities, a national policy for the training of professionals for education is guaranteed for proper initial training and continuing education at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels; Goal 6 establishes that the State must offer full-time education in 50% of public schools; Goal 14 foresees raising the quality of higher education by increasing the proportion of masters and doctors in the teaching staff in effective service to 75%, with 35% being doctors.

This set of goals is the heart of the National Education Plan (PNE), which will transform public policy into state policy, and could definitively place Brazil alongside developed nations.