Abraham Weintraub's 13 months of attacks!

This week, we closely followed the Senate session that approved the main text of the bill postponing the 2020 ENEM exam, and other university entrance exams, until we overcome the coronavirus pandemic. Parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly in favor, with 75 votes in favor and 1 against.

Unsurprisingly, the only senator to oppose it was Flávio Bolsonaro, coincidentally on the same day that Folha de São Paulo... denounced The transfer of R$ 500 from the public party fund that the senator made to a lawyer under investigation in the Queiroz case. But today's column is not about the president's son, but rather about Minister Abraham Weintraub, the main enemy of Education among many in this government.

Since the minister announced that the Enem exam dates would remain unchanged, I have been campaigning for its postponement. live, Together with Congressman Carlos Giannazi and the coordinators of community-based preparatory courses, Talita Inamine (Mafalda Community-Based Preparatory Course) and Rafael Cícero (Ubuntu Network), we have repeatedly defended the postponement as a matter of social justice, that is, to ensure that millions do not have their right to education violated during the pandemic and are not further harmed.

However, according to Weintraub, the ENEM exam was not designed to "correct injustices." The minister ignores the reality of millions of students across Brazil who cannot afford distance learning and attacks the social character of the ENEM exam, which is the main pathway to higher education for low-income students.

A sick ministry

"It's too early to give up on the school year." That's what Weintraub argued while most countries around the world were canceling, postponing, or rescheduling their student assessments, including the US, Ghana, China, Colombia, Spain, Korea, France, Russia, and the UK. 

In contrast to the rest of the world, Weintraub also caused tensions with the Chinese embassy by posting insinuations on his Twitter profile that China might be deliberately profiting from the global crisis caused by the coronavirus. He later deleted the post, but this did not prevent the ambassador, Wanming Yang, from issuing an official statement repudiating the post and demanding an official declaration from the government regarding the minister's unfortunate remarks.

Beyond postponing the Enem, Weintraub has been actively working to dismantle the Ministry of Education since taking office. This Monday (18), the minister appointed Garigham Amarante Pinto, convicted and imprisoned in the mensalão scandal, to head the Directorate of Educational Actions of the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), one of the most important positions in the Ministry.

Also this year, Weintraub used the services of two lawyers in private interest lawsuits even after appointing them as advisors. Lawyers Auro Hadano Tanaka and Victor Sarfatis Metta were appointed as special advisors to Weintraub in April and May 2019, respectively, with salaries of R$ 13,6 each.

While thousands of teachers are undervalued and students face dire conditions to continue studying amidst the pandemic, Weintraub is turning his Ministry into a "jobs-for-the-boys" scheme by appointing his own lawyers and someone involved in the Mensalão scandal to positions of trust. And some say the gravy train is over.

One year of failures.

On April 9th, the minister completed one year at the head of the Ministry of Education, and there's no denying that Weintraub's management has been, at the very least, disastrous. His entry was marked by protests against cuts in research grants and the budget of federal universities, and since then, most of the minister's projects have not yet left the drawing board.

At the end of 2019, the minister was also the protagonist in the cut of R$ 926 million that were part of the frozen resources of the Ministry of Education but ended up serving as parliamentary amendments in the negotiation for the approval of the Pension Reform in Congress.

This reallocation impacted actions such as support for the maintenance of early childhood education, the granting of scholarships in higher and basic education, and support for the operation of federal educational institutions.

Also under Weintraub's leadership, the Ministry of Education experienced its biggest failure in the ENEM exam since 2010, with nearly 6 incorrect scores. This was also the first time since 2009 that the military dictatorship was not addressed in the exam, reflecting the ideological crusade the minister has waged against historical themes denied by the Olavo de Carvalho and Bolsonaro supporters within the government.

The “Future-se” program, which generated conflicts between the government and rectors of federal universities in 2019, also has no scheduled continuation. Lacking sufficient support from parliamentarians, the proposal was strongly rejected by students and professors across the country. 

The Digital Student ID Card project, another folly of this government, was not approved by Congress in time and expired. In total, the minister spent R$ 2,5 million on advertising to promote a project that didn't even come close to being voted on.

Weintraub out!

It's worth remembering that, in February of this year, members of Congress requested Weintraub's dismissal for malfeasance. Among the arguments were: "absence of literacy policies; flaws in the ENEM exam; favoritism towards government supporters; offenses against the mothers of various citizens; and omission regarding the use of R$ 1 billion recovered by Operation Lava Jato." Unfortunately, the request was dismissed by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

Therefore, exposing Weintraub's incompetence in his role is fundamental to protecting students, valuing teachers and professionals, and stopping the dismantling of Education and Science promoted by the minister. With the postponement of the ENEM (National High School Exam), it is quite possible that Abraham Weintraub will remain in power until the end of the pandemic; however, we will continue fighting not only to remove him, but also to hold him accountable for the acts of impropriety he has committed.