Privatization of State Universities in Brazil
Content
Pedro Henrique Silva Sanches
Privatization of State Universities in Brazil The Education System in Brazil is going through a very critical period. More and more students from private schools are studying in public universities, which are “free of costs” in the country. Due to the lack of significant investments on basic education, many public schools do not have an adequate structure, such as teaching materials, books, computers, and well-prepared teachers, to prepare their students for finding their places on the best universities. To solve problems of social inequality related to education, the current government is planning to privatize the public universities instead of providing a basic public education of quality. That is the best strategy ever! Arguing that 60% of the students from state universities like USP, Unicamp and UNESP could afford to pay the same tuition of well-known private universities, such as PUC, some politicians intend to implement the same system of developed countries, such as the USA where even the state colleges have a paid-tuition system. However, none of those politicians has taken into account the fact that student debt in America now exceeds $1 trillion, which is a huge menace for the country’s economy. Nowadays, hundreds of students from lower-income families have to give up on going to college because they do not have enough money for essential needs such as food and accommodation. This number would even go up if they had to pay tuition fees. If universities like USP were privatized, students would pay twice, since public universities are sponsored by ICMS (Brazilian Tax on Trade of Goods). The same discrepancy happens in the health system, in which, besides having to pay taxes that would be supposedly destined to the improvement of hospitals, people have to resort to expensive private health plans to have a healthcare of quality. To conclude, the Brazilians should claim for their rights for a good public system of education. Instead of blaming the students for the huge debt which is devastating state universities, the government should assume their irresponsibility and inefficiency to manage those universities and to provide a good basic education which would balance the scales of social inequality. The current political scenario well known for the corruption and apathy, which has plagued the population for decades, needs to be changed.
Privatization of State Universities in Brazil The Education System in Brazil is going through a very critical period. More and more students from private schools are studying in public universities, which are “free of costs” in the country. Due to the lack of significant investments on basic education, many public schools do not have an adequate structure, such as teaching materials, books, computers, and well-prepared teachers, to prepare their students for finding their places on the best universities. To solve problems of social inequality related to education, the current government is planning to privatize the public universities instead of providing a basic public education of quality. That is the best strategy ever! Arguing that 60% of the students from state universities like USP, Unicamp and UNESP could afford to pay the same tuition of well-known private universities, such as PUC, some politicians intend to implement the same system of developed countries, such as the USA where even the state colleges have a paid-tuition system. However, none of those politicians has taken into account the fact that student debt in America now exceeds $1 trillion, which is a huge menace for the country’s economy. Nowadays, hundreds of students from lower-income families have to give up on going to college because they do not have enough money for essential needs such as food and accommodation. This number would even go up if they had to pay tuition fees. If universities like USP were privatized, students would pay twice, since public universities are sponsored by ICMS (Brazilian Tax on Trade of Goods). The same discrepancy happens in the health system, in which, besides having to pay taxes that would be supposedly destined to the improvement of hospitals, people have to resort to expensive private health plans to have a healthcare of quality. To conclude, the Brazilians should claim for their rights for a good public system of education. Instead of blaming the students for the huge debt which is devastating state universities, the government should assume their irresponsibility and inefficiency to manage those universities and to provide a good basic education which would balance the scales of social inequality. The current political scenario well known for the corruption and apathy, which has plagued the population for decades, needs to be changed.
