Brazil CTI - 2007 - Global Information Technology

School Access to ICTs

The 2003 Program for International Student Assessment reported Brazil has .02 computers per student. Compared to countries in North America and Europe Brazil was trailing far behind. In the same report the United States had .30 computers per student and the United Kingdom had .23. Brazil also trailed behind other developing countries; Mexico was at .09 computers per student and Uruguay was at .05. [1]

According to the 2005 census Brazil has approximately 207,000 primary and secondary schools; 37.83% of these schools have computers. While the percentage of schools with computers is low it is important to note 73.56% of elementary school students have access to computers at school. The data suggests schools in high population centers have more computer access than rural parts of the country. Computer access at the university level is comparable to that in North America and Europe. [2]

The Brazil government is taking steps to increase the use of computers in all schools throughout the country. In 2000 the government passed a telecommunications surcharge tax with 45% of the revenue designated for computers in schools. In his radio address on January 10th 2008 President de Silva made it clear education is a national priority. Brazil is in the midst of a major development plan. The plan calls for computer laboratories with broadband, in every Brazilian school by 2010. [3]

School’s access to ICTs in Brazil is at stage 3.0. Computers can be found extensively at the university levels and 75% of the primary and secondary students have access to ICTs. Primary and Secondary schools in larger urban centers have the highest ICT and Internet penetration but more remote parts of the country require attention. Brazil is definitely on the right track. If the efforts of the government, NGOs and private citizens are successful Brazil will emerge to stage 4 by 2010.

Enhancing Education with ICTs

Brazil’s primary issue currently is access to ICTs in education. A high percentage of primary and secondary schools do not have access to ICTs. Among the schools that have access to ICTs, their integration with the curriculum varies by school and individual teachers. Integrating ICTs in the curriculum, especially at the primary and secondary levels, is a challenge for educators world wide – Brazil is no different.

Distance learning has been available in Brazil since the late ‘70s by private philanthropic institutions, such as Telecurso. [4] Since then, schools have been deploying types of distance learning but were prevented from having their degrees recognized by the government. A recent presidential decree overturned the law allowing for degrees online in Brazil. [5] The federal government’s education ministry now has a branch dedicated to distance learning. [6] This branch has already made technical high school and college distance learning degrees available to anyone through the many federal teaching institutions spread throughout the country.

Brazilians’ access to ICTs is low, but when you take the student body into account, this statistic improves. While 21% of the population, 10 years of age or older, has accessed the Internet in one way or another, if you look only at the student body of the population, then that number jumps to 38%. That’s roughly 13.5 million students accessing the Internet in one way or another. While there’s plenty of room for improvement, it still is, nonetheless, a significant number. [7]

Students’ access to ICTs varies by educational level and social status. While there is almost a 100% adoption rate at the college and graduate levels, when it comes to primary (up to 4th grade) and high school, the numbers are 15% and 25%, respectively. When analyzing public and private institutions separately, the numbers improve on the private side reaching 66% and 80%, respectively. A further analysis of family income reveals great disparities between social levels. 4.6% of fundamental level students (1st to 8th grade) in the lowest social class have accessed the Internet versus 72.5% in the highest social class. 14.8% of medium level students (high school) in the lowest social class versus 86.2% of students in the highest social class. ICTs access to college students remains in the high 80s across all social levels, indicating democratization at the schooling level.

Finding data about ICT integration into the various curriculums is difficult and the available data is sometimes, contradicting. Nonetheless, we found a credible source written by Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz. Waiselfisz may be the best source to determine real ICT integration with curriculum in Brazil. Among the schools that have access to computers ICT integration in school curriculum is widespread among teachers with college degrees and those teachers with only a high school Education. [8]

Educators with college degrees

- Pre School Level - 88.3%
- 1st through 4th grades - 91%
- 5th through 8th grades - 91.1%
- High School - 91.9%
- Professional Degree Instructors - 91%
- College and Graduate Levels - 94%

Educators with high school degrees

- Pre School Level - 85%
- 1st through 4th grades - 87.4%
- Professional Degree Instructors - 90.8%

Developing an ICT Workforce

According to Gartner, Brazil has more than 200,000 IT professionals and each year 23,000 college graduates enter the workforce. The number of Brazilians entering college has nearly doubled to 4 million each year. However, this is small when compared to world wide levels. Gartner reports efforts in the private sector complement the education system’s efforts to develop the ICT workforce. [9]

While in Brazil we visited the city of Blumenau. The local government is teaming up with international business to bring technical jobs to Brazil. The government and T systems, through a joint effort, have developed a technical training center that develops young Brazilians for careers with T systems. The project is a source of great pride in the city of Blumenau, creating opportunity for both local residents and industry alike. T systems leverage the training center to recruit employees for their IT operations.

All the individuals we interviewed in Brazil indicated they have no problem finding skilled workers for technical jobs. Several universities including the Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC), the largest Catholic University in Brazil, offer computer science programs.

According to Inep’s data from 2006, there were a total of 824 Computer Science and related technologies degrees available among all of the schools that offered some sort of Computer Science degree in the country. There were 97,786 Computer Science and related technologies student positions offered, 154,319 candidates, and 44,947 students admitted throughout Brazil. [10]

Brazil’s future depends on the ability of the country to scale its ICT workforce. Computer Science and related technologies had roughly 1.5 candidate per position offered in 2006. Steps are already underway to increase dramatically the number or Brazilians with access to technical education. In January 2008 the government began implementing 150 technical schools throughout the country. The government is planning to implement 354 new technical schools by 2010 with the capacity to support 500,000 students. The schools will be distributed across all regions of the country; dramatically increasing opportunity for poorer Brazilians.

Brazil’s capacity for developing the ICT workforce is currently at stage 3.5. Technical courses are available at a variety of public and private institutions, including distance learning opportunities. Employers offer training to fill the gaps in the current educational system. Given the efforts the government is making to expand ICT access to all schools and adding 354 technical schools by 2010 we expect Brazil to emerge to stage 4 soon.