Alagoas is last in the world in mathematics.

Alagoas247 Alagoas received the worst performance in the world in mathematics, according to data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluated 65 countries. The state registered 342 points in the subject, in addition to 355 in reading and 346 in science, reaching an average of 347,7637. 

The state is also a leader in illiteracy in Brazil, with 21,8%, according to data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of 2012. The data, released this Tuesday (3), show Espírito Santo with the best rate in the country, with an average of 423,248 points.

On Tuesday, the Elementary Education Manager of the Alagoas State Department of Education (SEE), Ana Márcia Cardoso Ferraz, justified the negative performance of Alagoas students with what she calls "schooling distortion" - made up of 15-year-old students who should be in the 9th grade of elementary school, but are generally in the 6th.

According to figures from the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), of the Ministry of Education (MEC), of the 88,2 students enrolled in elementary education in the public school system, half are in this so-called distortion. "These are students who are, on average, two years behind," he reveals.

An example of what Ana Márcia is talking about is the 16-year-old student SOMS, who should have already finished high school if it weren't for six years repeating grades. Currently in his sixth year, SOMS acknowledges that for a long time he wasn't interested in his studies, which led to his expulsion from his old school. Regretful, he is trying to work hard to finish his studies and serve in the Armed Forces, his dream. To achieve this, he promises not to fight with students anymore or hit the principal, the reason for his last expulsion.

To try and reverse the situation in PISA, which Ana Márcia acknowledges is not easy, the secretariat launched the Flow Correction Program in 2014, which includes a series of actions, among them the purchase of R$ 1,1 million worth of textbooks. In the first year, however, the effort will only cover 10,4 students, which corresponds to about a quarter of the total number of students who are outside the schooling range. "We know it's not much, but it's an important step." According to the director of the Maria José Loureiro State School, Juliane Amorim, the solution lies not only in the purchase of textbooks, but in a series of factors that include teacher training. "Unfortunately, the government does nothing in this regard," she laments.

Juliane's complaint resonates with the Alagoas Education Workers Union (Sinteal), which for at least five years has denounced the need for a public competition to fill at least 3,5 vacancies left by teachers who have retired from public service. Without a public competition for eight years, Alagoas' education system has to rely on the efforts of its 3,4 professionals to cover the entire public school system.

Without enough professionals, the government of Alagoas is trying to reverse the statistics in other ways. This Monday, the 2nd, the 15th Regional Education Coordination (CRE) opened the First Literary Soirée in Maceió, whose main objective is to bring students closer to reading. To this end, the event, held at the Center for Applied Teaching and Research (Cepa), the largest educational complex in Alagoas, brings together a series of activities, including the staging of theatrical plays based on classics of Brazilian literature. The event had barely begun when theater teacher Mauro Braga encountered his first challenge. "Only a few of the 40 students who participated in the project knew the original text," he states.

To overcome the difficulty and ensure that the students understood what the show was about, Braga distributed a summary of the work on which the performances were based. "It was a way for them to familiarize themselves with the story," he says. The head of the Pedagogical Support Unit of the 15th CRE, Marcus Affonso Barros Morais – who organized the literary event – ​​acknowledges that the challenge is great, but says he believes it can be overcome. To that end, he believes that the reopening of the eleven reading rooms in the schools that make up Cepa – scheduled for Friday, the 6th – is the first step. "Reading is everything," he says.

Despite her beliefs, reading hasn't been a common activity in the life of this student from Alagoas. Vanessa Maria da Silva, 16 years old, is in the 8th grade at a state public school and says she enjoys math, English, and art. She says she likes to read, but claims she doesn't have time for books. The last one she read was a self-help book called "There Is Still Hope," by Enrique Chaij. "I don't have time," she declares.

Mathematics professor Eduardo Araújo is well acquainted with the reality of both public and private education in Alagoas. Having taught in both systems, Araújo says that part of the blame for poor performance in the subject lies with parents – most of whom are low-income – who lack the time or knowledge to impart it to their children. In his analysis, the performance of the private school system is slightly better because parents tend to demand more, "after all, they are paying dearly for the tuition fees."

Another factor influencing the negative outcome, he points out, is that a large portion of educators dislike the subject and make this clear to students through bureaucratic teaching methods. The result, according to Araújo, is students arriving at university without knowing basic mathematical operations. "A culture has been created in Alagoas' education system where students cannot fail," he denounces. "The education coordinators themselves demand that teachers not fail students with difficulties," he adds. "Of course, there are exceptions," he emphasizes.

One of them is 16-year-old student Marta de Fátima Oliveira. A third-year high school student at the Álvaro Paes State School in Coité do Noia – a municipality of 10,920 inhabitants 133 km from Maceió – she won the gold medal at the 2013 Alagoas Mathematics Olympiad a week ago, and the silver medal at the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP), competing with more than 30 million students. The results were announced in Brasília on Friday, the 29th.

The daughter of farmers, Fátima has been a source of pride for Maria Aldineide Pessoa Gomes, the director of the small school where the student shares space with 529 other classmates. "The merit is entirely hers, because we know her difficulties," she emphasizes. The secret to her success? "Mathematics demands a lot of dedication, so I've been spending time developing problems and familiarizing myself with the content," says the student. And when will most students be able to compare themselves to Fátima? "It's a slow process that won't be solved next year," acknowledges the Education Manager, Ana Márcia.

With gazetaweb.com and Gazeta de Alagoas