Brazilian ministry of Education aims at 10 million higher education students in coming decade.
Jul 01, 2010
The Ministry´s goal until 2011 (2010 is the last year of the current government) was to have 30% of the total population to be enrolled or graduated in higher education. The actual number does not surpass 15%.
Minister Fernando Haddad of Education stated during a seminar on Monday 31 of May that Brazil should look at achieving 10 million students enrolled in higher education in the next decade. According to the Minister it is necessary that 50% of the youngsters between 18 and 24 years old enroll in a higher education course. Today almost 6 million Brazilians are enrolled in higher education, the large majority in undergraduate programs (5,8 million) with a total of 25.000 courses. The Ministry´s goal until 2011 (2010 is the last year of the current government) was to have 30% of the total population to be enrolled or graduated in higher education. The actual number does not surpass 15%. The reason seems to be the access to higher education, only 40% of the Brazilians that conclude high school enter higher education. The number of places / courses is limited, especially at the public institutions. Not just the in average better scores for public institutions in the national evaluation lead to a high demand in comparison to a small offer, it is mainly the fact that public higher education in Brazil is for free. The students that manage to get in are enrolled in all knowledge areas, the programs with the most students are in the area of Administration and Law.
The Minister sees growth in distance education as an ongoing tendency and a potential mean to achieve the aim of 10 million. Looking at the necessities of the country´s economy and current development the Minister declared that the tendency will and should be offering more higher education technological courses.
Nuffic Neso Brazil / Remon Daniel Boef
Source:
Ministery of Education (MEC), www.mec.gov.br