Poor state of public schools is a concern in the Federal District.

Jéssica Gonçalves - Reporter for Radioagência Nacional

The precarious situation of public schools in the Federal District (DF) is not a new issue for residents. One example of neglect is the Elefante Branco High School, a traditional school in Brasília, built 53 years ago. The place has never undergone a renovation. Parts of the ceiling are collapsing, the floors are uneven, there are cracks of more than 5 centimeters and leaks in the walls. There are also no fire extinguishers.

The principal, Joselma Ramos, explains that the money the school receives is only enough to solve minor problems and says that the building has already been condemned several times by Civil Defense. "Obviously, as administrators, we try to make repairs with the little money sent to the school. We request this from the Department of Education, but the repairs have to be so constant and the building is so old that other problems keep appearing; it's a never-ending job." Joselma adds that neither the students nor the staff can attend the school peacefully given the situation. "Safety here will always be at risk. We never know what might happen."

Massage therapist Carla Silva, mother of a third-year high school student at Elefante Branco, complains about the lack of infrastructure. "It's deteriorating more and more. They were supposed to do a renovation, the students were waiting for that because they were going to be transferred to other schools in the Federal District, but to this day nothing has happened."

Studying in a school with terrible conditions is bad enough, but not having a fixed location is even worse. According to the principal, Alessandra Victor, of Escola Classe 1 in Estrutural, a city in the Federal District 15 kilometers from the center of Brasília, since the school was closed in 2012 due to the risk of explosion caused by methane gas, the 900 students have already changed addresses three times. The school was closed because it had been built on a landfill. “We were in three different locations: part of the school was at the Centro Educacional [CED] 4 in Guará, another part at a school in the 315 Sul area, in the central region of the capital, and another part at the Escola de Aperfeiçoamento de Profissionais da Educação [Eape], also in Asa Sul. The following year, we left CED 4, stayed in the 315 and at Eape. Last year, everyone came to Eape, and we are still here.”

According to Alessandra, the government offers free transportation and meals to the students, but they don't feel safe there. She stated that there is no access control to Eape and that anyone can enter the building without being identified. "We're afraid because there's no guard post, no gatehouse; anyone can go in there, and you can't know if the person has good intentions."

According to the Undersecretary of Educational Planning of the Federal District, Fábio Pereira, the students will be relocated to a new space in the Graphic Industries Sector (SIA), 14 kilometers from the center of Brasília, in April, until the situation of the school in Estrutural is resolved. “This space is in the contract signing process. It has already been evaluated by the Federal District Inspection Agency [Agefis], the Brasília Real Estate Company [Terracap], and our architecture and engineering team. The building has been approved; now we are waiting for the occupancy permit to be issued. As soon as this document is released, we will be able to lease it, and the students will be transferred there,” he assured.

The government of the Federal District reported that 320 of the 657 schools underwent minor repairs before classes began, at a cost of R$ 3,5 million. However, there is no date yet for major renovations. The government stated that it is finalizing a works plan in conjunction with the 14 regional education offices and, once the funds are available, will begin the bidding processes.

Last Monday (23), public school teachers in the Federal District went on strike due to delays in salary payments. Around 460 students will be without classes until Friday (27) – when a new teachers' assembly is scheduled. The category decided to stop activities until a new meeting with the government is held. They held a demonstration in front of Palácio do Buriti, the seat of the local government, last Monday, to demand payment of overdue benefits.

The initial proposal was that the R$120 million debt related to overdue vacation pay, thirteenth-month salary, and contract terminations for temporary workers would be paid in installments until June. After a meeting between representatives of the Teachers' Union and members of the Federal District Government (GDF), the government decided to make some commitments to resolve the debt problem and advance the payment. Among them is the attempt to accelerate the Anticipation of Budgetary Revenue (ARO), which was approved in the Chamber of Deputies but still needs the Union's approval. Even so, the teachers decided to strike and are awaiting new negotiations.

Classes in the public school system of the Federal District (DF) were supposed to have started last Monday, two weeks later than the initially announced schedule, but students found the gates closed. With the change, classes are now expected to end on December 29th, and the mid-year break will be shorter.