Experiences with Risk-Management and Remote Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Crises, Destitutions, and (Possible) Resolutions

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter examines the difficult conditions under which states, and municipalities had to struggle to ensure learning continued during the social isolation demanded by the COVID-19 crisis in the country. Although it seemed reasonable to expect that the Federal government would respect the constitution and coordinate the educational response to the pandemic, that simply did not happen. The Minister of Education did not consider that such a responsibility should be carried out at the federal level. In the absence of leadership from the central government, the two organizations that congregate subnational secretaries decided to support their members and promote the exchange of practices, with some support from civil society organizations. Through the think tank established by the senior author of this chapter at a private university, CEIPE- Center for Excellence and Innovation in Education Policies, at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, she participated in this effort, mentoring state and municipal level secretaries in their efforts to provide distance learning through a combination of media, such as TV, radio, and digital platforms. The chapter includes her own anecdotal observations of this national effort, drawing on interviews with secretaries and their teams as well as documents related to the experience as the evidence basis of the chapter. Unfortunately, this is not a story of triumph, since Brazil has been one of the countries with more months of schools being completely or partially closed. In addition to the ineffective approach to fighting the disease, which made Brazil’s rate of infection and deaths much worse than many countries in Latin America, the fact that mayoral elections coincided with COVID-19, introduced political reasons for schools to remain closed. The final part of the chapter draws lessons learned and discusses future possibilities for the future of education in Brazil.