By 263 votes in favour, 106 against and three abstentions, the Chamber of Deputies approved last night, December 7, the base text of Provisional Measure 746/16, known as the MP for High School. Next week, deputies will vote on amendments that may change the content of the proposal.
THE High School MP changes some points of Law 9,394, of December 20, 1996, the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (LDB). Among the changes are the gradual increase in the workload (full-time school), curricular flexibility, organization of secondary education in credits or modules, use of credits for higher education and the possibility for the teacher to teach in a subject other than their course in formation.
Workload
The minimum annual workload for secondary education will be gradually increased from 800 to at least 1,000 hours. Initially, the proposal spoke of 1,400 hours, but the Rapporteur of the MP, senator Pedro Chaves (PSC-MS), reduced the goal.
The MP's rapporteur also expanded from 50% to 60% of secondary education the workload of the Common National Curriculum Base (BNCC). The remaining workload (40%) will consist of specific areas: Languages and its Technologies; Science of Nature and its Technologies; Applied Human and Social Sciences; Mathematics and its Technologies; and Technical and Professional Training.
Students will have to choose a specific area at the beginning of high school. The contents of BNCC and the specific area will be taught in parallel until the end of the cycle. O initial text of the MP it divided the contents by 50%, with BNCC being taught until the middle of the second year, when students would start receiving classes in the specific area.
Arts and Physical Education
The approved text includes the subjects of Arts and Physical Education among the mandatory throughout high school, along with Portuguese, Mathematics and English. The initial text of the MP removed an article from the LDB that dealt with the obligation of Arts and Physical Education in high school, which caused controversy. These disciplines were also included by the rapporteur.
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The disciplines of Philosophy and Sociology are no longer mandatory and are now optional. However, they must be part of the Human Sciences area and may also have content covered in the BNCC.
teachers
The MP for the New High School allows schools hire teachers without a bachelor's degree to teach subjects in the technical and vocational part of the curriculum. A civil engineer can teach in the technical course in Buildings, for example. Traditional subjects such as mathematics, physics, sociology and chemistry will continue to require a full licentiate degree.
Credits
The new high school format will also allow it to be organized in modules and for schools to adopt the credit system or subjects with specific terminality, in order to encourage the continuation of the studies. These credits may be used to take courses in higher education.
PISA
The Ministry of Education (MEC) celebrated the approval of the MP for High School in the Chamber of Deputies. Minister Mendonça Filho commented that the latest result of the International Student Assessment Program (Pisa) 2015 “clearly demonstrates the bankruptcy of Brazilian high school”, which justifies a change in the teaching.
Last Tuesday, 6th, the Pisa 2015 result, which assesses the performance in science, reading and mathematics of students in public and private schools from the 7th year of elementary school in 72 countries. Brazil ranked 63rd in science, 59th in reading and 65th in mathematics.
Next steps
After the deputies vote on the amendments that suggest changes in the MP for High School, next week, the measure Provisional will go to the Senate, which will have until March 2, 2017 to approve it, otherwise, the MP loses its validity.
