Bolsonaro wants a colonel in charge of selecting textbooks at the Ministry of Education.
The position, traditionally held by technical professionals from the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), an agency linked to the Ministry of Education, has a retired Army colonel with no experience in basic education, Sebastião Vitalino da Silva, being considered for the role; the coordination is responsible for selecting textbooks that will be purchased by the federal government and distributed to public schools across the country. This information comes from the UOL website.
247 - A retired Army colonel with no experience in basic education is being considered for the top position responsible for selecting textbooks to be purchased by the federal government and distributed to public schools across the country. This information comes from the UOL website, which reported that Colonel Sebastião Vitalino da Silva is the name chosen by Jair Bolsonaro's government to assume the general coordination of teaching materials at the SEB (Basic Education Secretariat) of the MEC (Ministry of Education).
The position has always been held by technical professionals from the MEC (Ministry of Education) and the FNDE (National Fund for the Development of Education), an agency linked to the Ministry of Education.
With an estimated budget of R$ 1 billion for the purchase of teaching materials for elementary and secondary education in 2019, the role is considered one of the most important, as the coordination is involved both in formulating the PNLD (National Textbook Program) notice, which guides the production of the works, and in the pedagogical evaluation of the books that will be acquired and distributed by the government.
Despite not having been officially appointed, Sebastião Vitalino has been frequenting the ministry daily. In response to UOL, the Ministry of Education stated that, "like any citizen, the colonel can frequent the premises of the Ministry of Education."
Sebastião graduated from Aman (Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras), the same academy where Jair Bolsonaro graduated.
According to UOL's investigation, his resume, as published on the Lattes platform, shows no prior academic or professional experience in the formulation or evaluation of content for basic education.
"He holds a doctorate in Military Sciences from the Army Command and Staff College and specializations in policy and strategic management of human resources. In his resume, Silva lists as supplementary training distance learning programs offered by Kroton, a giant in the country's private education sector," the report points out.