Indigenous education in Brazil has evolved in recent decades, reflecting a growing appreciation for and respect toward the cultural identity of indigenous peoples. However, the full implementation of indigenous school education—recognized as a right by the 1988 Constitution—still faces obstacles, such as a lack of resources and appropriate teaching materials, inadequate teacher training, and resistance from conventional educational systems.

“There is an urgent need to dispel the notion that Brazil’s ancestral cultures did not leave a legacy of wisdom and philosophies,” emphasized Kaká Werá, a representative of Indigenous peoples, educator, and writer, during his appearance on Conexão Bett, a live videocast broadcast during the 29th edition of Bett Brasil, the largest event dedicated to innovation and technology in education in Latin America.

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Werá spoke about the progress the country has made since the 1990s in terms of cultural recognition and the emergence of Indigenous leaders who continue to be active today in a wide variety of areas of Brazilian society.

“I am an Indigenous writer. We have 155 Indigenous writers in Brazil whose literary works are aimed at schools and address their worldviews, cultures, and values. Included in this list is the writer Ailton Krenak, the first Indigenous person elected to a seat on the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) in more than 120 years. Another important achievement was the creation of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, led by an Indigenous woman, Minister Sonia Guajajara,” he noted. The writer emphasized, however, that there is still much progress to be made on issues such as the rights regarding the continued presence of Indigenous peoples in their ancestral territories.

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As for indigenous school education, Werá pointed out that, to accommodate the current number of students, the country needs four times as many indigenous schools. According to the Ministry of Education and Culture, Brazil has 2,819 indigenous schools, serving approximately 195,000 students from early childhood education through high school. However, the country is home to a total of 1.7 million indigenous people, so the number of schools remains small.

In Werá’s view, there is a need for more effective implementation of public policies focused on indigenous school education, in a more consistent and accelerated manner. “My hope is that key institutions in the field of education will truly prioritize and view indigenous education as an essential issue of social inclusion for the Brazilian nation as a whole.”

He concluded by emphasizing that ancestral indigenous culture has much to contribute—for example, in the ecological realm—by offering a different paradigm for the relationship between humans and nature, an issue of extreme importance in the current context of global climate crises. “Without nature, there is no human community,” Werá concluded.

The Conexão Bett studio was a space set up to broadcast interviews and live footage during the four days of Bett Brasil 2024. Conexão Bett content is available on YouTube and major audio platforms, such as Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts, among others, as well as on the Educador21 website.

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