Well, it's certainly not a surprise to anyone who has been in Brazil for a while, but recently released figures from the last national census are dismal for the public school system in Brazil.
The census data shows that just half of Brazil's public schools have internet access, while their private counterparts do considerably better at 90%. Most shocking is that only 36% (just marginally over 1 out of every 3) of public schools in this country are connected to sewer systems. (This probably indicates that they are not connected to municipal water systems as well, since the two go hand-in-hand). 83% of Brazilian private schools are connected to sewer systems, so 17% are not! Shocking since fees at private schools here are astronomically high. Only 29% of public schools have libraries, while at least 59% of the private schools do.
As if it isn't bad enough that students in Brazil's public school system have only 4 hours of classroom time each day, they for the most part must endure almost subhuman conditions while there. In some parts of Brazil classes are held under trees or in delapitated old buildings with leaking roofs.
Students in Cacéres, Mato Grosso have classes under a tree because the Secretário da Educação Estadual has not paid rent for many months.
Major Brazilian cities, obviously do have a slightly better record, but not as much as one might imagine when you consider that the same census revealed that fully 1 out of every 6 households in São Paulo, Brazil's largest and wealthiest city do not have a bathroom indoors.
Really makes one wonder WHY homeschooling is still illegal in this country, doesn't it? Anything has to be better than this.
Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team