1. 1
WEAKNESSES OF THE BRAZILIAN EDUCATION PLAN
Fernando Alcoforado *
The Brazilian National Education Plan (NEP) should pursue two main objectives: 1) to
prepare at all levels of education (kindergarten, elementary, secondary, vocational and
higher) citizens to build a better world and become active agents in the advancement of
mankind; and, 2) to prepare citizens with the highest possible qualification to meet the
needs of the working world. These objectives should constitute the basis on which it
should be structured NEP. In other words, the education system to be structured in
Brazil, based on NEP should pursue the achievement of two objectives described above.
Towards these 2 great goals described above, it is necessary: 1) to develop specific
training programs for teachers at all levels of education and region of Brazil; 2)
developing programs for the development of appropriate methodologies for each level
of education and region of Brazil; and, 3) develop specific programs to enhance existing
educational infrastructure to adapt it to the needs at all levels of education taking into
account regional specificities. Besides not define the major objectives to be pursued by
the NEP and programs relating to the training of teachers, development of teaching
methodologies and strengthening educational infrastructure, it can be seen that the
National Education Plan was drawn up by the federal government without adopting a
systematic rational.
The NEP provides for the execution of 20 goals that were established without the
production of a consistent diagnosis of the current situation of education in Brazil and,
because of this, does not qualify to eliminate the weaknesses of the educational system
of the country. For each of the 20 established goals were outlined strategies for the
universalization of education, literacy for all children up to 8 years old, offering full
time education, promoting the quality of basic education, combating illiteracy, increased
enrollments in vocational education, raising the quality of higher education, training and
development of professional education, among others.
The absence of a systematic rational in the preparation of the NEP is mainly a result of
the following: 1) The NEP was established without a larger framework that would be
the existence of a national development plan that Brazil does not have; 2) The NEP did
not present an assessment of the situation of education in Brazil; 3) The NEP was
drafted without the participation of other governmental agencies (federal, state and
municipal), the state and private productive sector and civil society organizations; 4)
The NEP proposes to place 10% of GDP for education in the country without relying on
resource requirements to implement the plan in the planning horizon; and, 5) The NEP
set 20 goals and generic strategies without specifying them on an annual basis and not
assign responsibility for its implementation.
The national education plan should be preceded by a thorough diagnosis of the
education system in Brazil, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, threats and
opportunities. Taking into account the diagnosis made, should be designed specific
training programs for teachers at all levels of education and region of Brazil, programs
for development of appropriate methodologies for each level of education and region of
Brazil and programs to strengthen existing educational infrastructure to adapt it to the
needs at all levels of education. These programs should include the specification of
goals and strategies for its implementation, as well as financial resources with the
corresponding sources of funding. NEP should therefore be translated in terms of

2. 2
budget. For all these reasons the National Education Plan is nothing more nor less than
a mere letter of intent from the Brazilian government.
* Fernando Alcoforado , member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011)
and Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012),
among others.