The State government filed with the Legislative Assembly, on Wednesday afternoon (8/11), five proposals related to education for parliament’s consideration. It is a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC), a Complementary Law Project (PLC) and three bills (PL).
The PLC and PLs were sent urgently, and will now lock the voting agenda within 30 days. The PEC needs 33 votes (55 deputies, but the president only votes in the event of a tie) in two rounds of voting to be approved.
Governor Eduardo Leite highlighted a series of measures taken by the State in the current and past administration, with the aim of improving education in Rio Grande do Sul, such as the teaching floor, the expansion of resources for meals and transport, investment in infrastructure works and the school reform. He highlighted that, with the changes forwarded to the Assembly, the idea is to focus on governance.
“The time has come to work on organizing education management in the State. Therefore, comes the discussion about the Education Council, comes the choice of school directors, comes the Legal Framework for Gaucho Education, the process for municipalization, new education, professional and technical education in the State”, said the governor . “After having carried out a series of measures elsewhere, our interest, at this moment, is in governance, in the management of education”.
“These are propositions that aim to improve the quality of teaching and the governance of schools, benefiting students and employees. This is within the state management’s proposal to give priority to education”, said the chief secretary of the Civil House, Artur Lemos.
At the end of October, the projects were presented by governor Eduardo Leite to base deputies in a meeting at Palácio Piratini. The PEC proposes changes to the text to bring the State Constitution closer to Federal Law 9,394/1996 (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional). In this way, it meets changes in federal legislation and updates the Constitution due to the federative model of division of action in education.
For education to become an effective vector of economic and social development, the PLC Legal Framework for Education in Rio Grande do Sul was presented. The proposal comes from parliament, but is being presented by the Executive Branch in compliance with constitutional norms of legislative competence.
Throughout 2023, the Assembly developed the Movement for Education project. Experts and society were consulted. Based on this initiative, the Legal Framework was created, with the aim of promoting systemic improvement in the quality of education in collaboration with municipalities. The proposed bill seeks to create robust public policies, composed of clear goals and indicators to be pursued over the years.
Technical education
Among the three PLs presented is the one that aims to establish the State Policy for Professional and Technical Education. The proposal amends Law 11,123, of 1/27/1998, which provides for Professional Education and created the Superintendency of Professional Education. The proposed project modernizes the legislation, promoting the productive inclusion of students, in addition to ensuring the perpetuity of a strategic teaching modality for the government.
According to the justification presented, in Brazil, only 11% of public high school enrollments are in Professional Education. As a comparison, in countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – which brings together partner nations in stimulating progress and world trade – the proportion reaches 42%. Added to this is the fact that, of young people aged 18 to 24 in Rio Grande do Sul, only 26.5% attend Higher Education, which confirms the need to reinforce technical education in this age group.
Democratic management
In force for almost three decades, Law 10,576, of 11/14/1995, which provides for the Democratic Management of Public Education, needs to be updated as subsequent national regulations have made it obsolete.
Transformations in society, public service and education systems in the last 25 years require substantial changes to what is contained in the law, so the project now forwarded by the Executive proposes the repeal of Law 10,576, establishing new guidelines.
The proposal establishes general guidelines for Pedagogical Management, Administrative Management and Financial Management from a democratic perspective, in addition to providing for the roles of School Councils. Another new feature is the election, by the school community, of the management team (director and deputy director), through direct voting.
Seeking to make the management of state schools even more democratic, the bill proposes strengthening the role of the School Council. The Council may start to constitute the executing unit of state resources directed to the school unit, improving the selection mechanisms that aim to qualify staff in line with the Common National Competency Base for the School Director.
State Education Council
Another bill forwarded to the Assembly proposes to amend Law 9,672, of 6/19/1992, which provides for the composition, functioning and duties of the State Education Council (CEEd). It is a consultative, normative, supervisory and deliberative body of the State Education System. There are seven members freely chosen by the governor and 15 nominated by entities representing the school community.
The proposal aims to reorganize the composition of CEEd, proposing parity in the number of appointed members, with 10 freely chosen by the governor and 10 nominated by the school community. Among the advisors freely chosen by the Chief Executive, the project provides that at least one advisor has training and experience in Special Education and that at least one has training and experience in Indigenous Education.
Administrative reorganization aims to effectively enable the execution of activities, as well as facilitate the visualization of the structure and hierarchical relationships, ensuring greater effectiveness in decision-making processes. Below, see details of the proposals presented for consideration by parliament.
Proposals forwarded to the Assembly
Proposed Amendment to the Constitution
Main goals:
- Adapt to the National Education Guidelines and Bases Law (LDB) of 1996 (Law 9,394/1996);
- Organize the State Network to enable better conditions for offering education;
- Enable better governance of the education offered in RS.
Main modified points:
- Establishes the guarantee of “free and compulsory basic education from four to 17 years of age”, instead of stating Elementary Education;
- Creates the possibility of schools with Elementary Education only for Initial Years or only for Final Years;
- Related strategic projects of the Department of Education – Alfabetiza Tchê and Full-Time Secondary Education;
- Inclusion of mention for the training of professionals specifically for rural schools, indigenous and quilombola communities and special education;
- Simplifies the wording of the education offer in rural areas, guaranteeing all stages of Basic Education;
- Other simplifications of wording and updates of terms.
Link to PEC 299 2023: amends articles 199, 211, 214, 215 and 216 of the State Constitution
Complementary Bill
Legal Framework for Gaucho Education
Bills
PL Democratic Management of State Schools
Main objective:
- Update the law to adapt it to the LDB and other regulations after 1995
Main modified points:
- Strengthen the School Council, with administrative representation;
- Selection process for choosing the director: including preliminary stages (with course and test) for candidates to qualify for direct voting;
- Financial autonomy: School Council becomes the executing body for state resources, as is already the case with federal resources;
- Related strategic projects of the Department of Education: Streamline, Homework, Pedagogical Tutoring and Management Model of regional education coordinators (CRE).
Stages of the selection process for choosing the director:
PL Professional and Technical Education
Main highlights:
PL State Education Council
Main objective:
- Create parity in the State Education Council (CEEd) in order to ensure greater balance in the council’s decisions to speed up the implementation of public policies and execution of the government’s strategic projects.
Main modified points:
Text: Ascom Casa Civil and Ascom Seduc
Editing: Camila Cargnelutti/Secom
