Enough is enough! Brazil is calling for the strengthening and promotion of quality education at all levels, from daycare to graduate school. For decades, we have lived under the mantra “only through education will the country move forward,” but nothing—or almost nothing—concrete has been done to change this reality. We continue to rank among the nations with the worst performance on international assessments. Domestically, we are far from meeting most of the goals of the National Education Plan (PNE), which ends next year.

We know that there is no magic solution capable of resolving all of Brazil’s educational problems. Overcoming the current situation requires the joint effort and unity of governments, the private sector, and civil society, with investment in broad, cross-cutting public policies in areas such as the economy, health, transportation, and food security—in addition to education itself. In this regard, for years the Forum of Representative Entities of Private Higher Education has served as a partner and a qualified forum for debate.

Focused on its area of expertise, in 2022 the Forum presented 10 public policy proposals for the coming years. Developed within the context of the #EducaçãoMaisForte movement and presented to candidates during the elections, the initiative is based on the principle that investments in the sector and the training of qualified professionals are essential to achieving a significant improvement in the quality of education provided in the country.

Responsible for training approximately 70% of Brazilian teachers, the private higher education sector argues that a stronger, higher-quality education necessarily requires greater integration between higher education and basic education. There is no path to improving education without a close and well-coordinated partnership between these two levels of education.

Strengthening education also depends on the passage of a fair tax reform for the sector, one that takes into account its social nature and the State’s responsibility to guarantee a fundamental right of every Brazilian citizen. Similarly, we need to move forward with legislation that promotes the development of hybrid methodologies and recognizes their potential for building an education system aligned with the needs and opportunities of the 21st century.

With specific regard to higher education, achieving the kind of education we need requires measures such as modernizing the regulatory framework governing evaluation and oversight; creating a new student financing model linked to students’ future income; the expansion of ProUni and the reinstatement of ProIES; the provision of financing programs to stimulate innovation in institutions of higher education; the increased participation of private higher education institutions on government agency boards; and greater integration between universities, university centers, and colleges with the workforce.

For some time now, experts, representative organizations, and the school and academic communities have been drawing attention to the need for a stronger, fairer, more inclusive, high-quality education system that is aligned with global trends and demands. Given the current state of our education system, any and all possibilities for socioeconomic development are stalled. This is an urgent need that cannot continue to be neglected. Enough is enough! We need a stronger education system to build a stronger country.

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*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bett Brasil.

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