The universal coverage of the access to education in Brazil is an issue that precedes the BrazilianRepublic and remains in the contemporary society. The Brazilian education system has its roots in anethnocentric view, when catechizing assumed an elementary function, also providing the literacy ofnatives in the Portuguese language (STRELHOW, 2010). The author addresses the continuity of thesocial exclusion directed by the education during the Empire, in which:

The Brazilian education identity was being marked at that time by the elitism that restricted education to thewealthier classes. Aulas régias (Latin, Greek, philosophy and rhetoric), that were an emphasis of Pombalpolicy, were specifically appointed to Portuguese colonizers children (white and male), thereby excludingblack and native populations. (STRELHOW, 2010, p. 51)

In different periods of Brazilian history, as shown in Table 1, education was treated as one basicright of citizens. However, it is important to advise, when considering constitutional provisions, that thecitizenship status has not always been destinated, by the letter of the law, to every inhabitant of thecountry.

Table 1
Brazil: constitutional text and illiterate population

The Constitution of 1824 guaranteed “free primary education for all citizens” (BRASIL, 1824).The first general census in the Brazilian territory happens 48 years after this constitution waspromulgated. In this census it is possible to assess that illiteracy prevailed in the Brazilian population,since 82.24% of free population was illiterate. Among slave population, only 0.09% could read andwrite. When considering the population between six and 16 years of age, only 21.44% attendededucational establishments (BRASIL, 1874).

The constitutional text of 1891 neither gives much attention to education nor guarantees it as acitizen right. The main element about the public education occurs in the sphere of management, with thedecentralization of executive powers. The management of primary education was in charge of states andmunicipalities, while the Union was responsible for last years and higher education (BRASIL, 1891).The channelling of basic education to municipalities and states gave them a peripheral status in thenational political agenda, due to the centralization of public resources in the federal level and thedisparities of tax collection in regional level, as shown by Villela (2007), when noted that the Southregion collection between 1854 and 1889 was in average the double of the one from the North region.The link between income and education oriented the sociopolitical exclusion of the lower classes, asevidenced in the second paragraph of the article 70, which doesn’t allow beggars and illiterate people tovote (BRASIL, 1891).

In the 1930s, the Constitutions of 1934 and 1937 are promulgated. Both present education as aright of all citizens, however the State is only obliged to provide the primary formation. It is possible tonotice, in this period, the coordination with the economic sectors, such as, for example, the requirementfor economic industries and unions to create apprenticeship schools for the children of workers withintheir sphere of competence (BRASIL, 1937). In return, the federal government pursued to subsidizethese activies. Fávero and Freitas (2011) indicated the State action in the development of professionaleducation, observing that:

On the one hand, the constitutional texts of 1946 and 1967 also guarantee free primary education.On the other hand, the following phases of formation would only be a State responsibility when provedthe family’s insufficient financial conditions. The constitution of 1967, in turn, also includes thenecessity of proving the effective progress, prioritizing the concession of scholarships (BRASIL, 1967).

Finally, the Constitution of 1988 establishes the universal coverage of the basic education, being theState role to provide every educational level.

It is clear, therefore, that only the constitutional text of 1891 didn’t ensure primary education as aright of Brazilian citizens. This is such an indicative fact once, during the twentieth century, illiteracyrates were significant, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2
Brazil: literacy rate of the population with 5 or more years of age according to sex and race

Until the 1980s, women represented the major proportion among the illiterate. Considering thecolor or race variable, it is possible to perceive that in every population census the black populationachieved the lowest literacy rates. Ferraro and Kreidlow (2004) noted how educational policiescontributed to the increase of social inequality in Brazil, reverberating in the rise of “prejudice anddiscrimination” (p. 180).

Confronting illiteracy needed to consider the demands for education of population beyond schoolage. In the 1960s, the Movimento Brasileiro de Alfabetização (MOBRAL or Brazilian Literacy Movement) stands out. Oliveira (1989) analyzes the journey of implementation of this programobserving that MOBRAL emerged, therefore, as a government response “to the wishes of the populationand to the requirements of economic development. A certain pressure from international organizations,certainly, also contributed to this” (p. 222). Paiva (1981) discussed the implementation of MOBRAL based on the conception of the technical mistake, which neglected the scientific community by means ofan authoritarian regime. Among the criticism from the scientific community, it is possible to highlightthe primacy of a technicist educational model, which didn’t enable the student’s comprehension in timeand in space.

When the military regime ends, the political narrative related to education resumes the socialdiscourse. At the launch of the program Educação para Todos (Education for All), president José Sarneyemphasizes the need of the universal coverage of education, saying that this is the most fruitful way tothe development of social mobility. The comprehension of social inequality as an obstacle for theeffectiveness of the program is noticeable, in his words:

The promulgated Constitution of 1988, in its article 6, addresses education as a citizen right,emphasizing it in article 205 as “a right of everyone and duty of the State”, concluding in item I ofparagraph 2 from the article 207 that “compulsory and free basic education from 4 (four) to 17(seventeen) years of age, also guaranteeing its free offer to everyone who didn’t attend to it in properage” (BRASIL, 1988). Early 1990s were represented by instability in the economic sphere, whichgenerically resulted in the exclusion of EJA from the political debate. In the first positioning of thepresident Itamar Franco, it is possible to notice that the center of the educational field is young people:“When we talk about knowledge and youth, it is natural to associate to our concern the educationproblem” (FRANCO, 1992, p. 42).

After the Plano Real (Real Plan) impact in the Brazilian economic system, the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1994-2002) moved forward regarding to EJA, especially in his secondterm. In his government’s proposal, entitled Avança, Brasil (Forward Brazil), EJA is treated as anelementary tool in the fight against the Brazilian historic debt to specific population groups, pointing outthat:

The document presents eight goals for the development of EJA₂. Three central points that directedthe federal government’s actions can be highlighted. The first one refers to the decentralization ofactions, in which the Union has a central role in the funding while states and municipalities mustmanage establishments, enrollments and professionals. The second one involves the expansion of theeducational system related to EJA, doubling the offer in a four-year interval. Finally, the third pointemphasizes the coordination with the professional education (Idem).

In the government of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2002-2010), FUNDEB’simplementation contributes to a significant increase of decentralized resources with states andmunicipalities (BRASIL, 2007). The territorial capilarity of resources helped the spatial difusion of EJAin many different municipalities of the Brazilian territory.

In 2006, with the Programa Nacional de Integração da Educação Profissional com a EducaçãoBásica na Modalidade de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (PROEJA or Program for the Integration ofProfessional Education and Basic Education for Young People and Adults), it is possible to observe theintegration of EJA with the job market. The main guideline consists in the articulation of professionalknowledge with the national curricular basis. This proposal became a challenge, according to Coelhoand Gonçalves (2012), when they share the not very successful experience of implementation in CampusFlorianópolis of Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal Institute of Santa Catarina). In contrast,Moura and Henrique (2012) indicate the need for distinct educational networks intergovernability,reminding the socioeconomic importance that PROEJA may represent in the Brazilian territory.

REGIONAL DISPARITIES: INCOME AND EDUCATION

Social inequality in Brazil is a broadly addressed subject in economic and social literature.Authors such as Ianni (1989), Furtado (2003) and Rocha (2000) analyzed in different periods theregionalization of income inequality in the Brazilian territory. Arrais (2019, p. 2) understands incomeinequality as “the mother of all inequalities, since it’s income that allows the consumption of goods andservices that influence social mobility of individuals”. The deepening of social inequality in the countryis present in the contemporaneity, as:

Among 189 countries analyzed in the 2019 Human Development Report, the average level ofeducation of Brazilian population corresponded to the 115th position. Comparing to the Germanpopulation (greatest average), the indicator corresponded to 55.32%. Considering Latin Americanexamples, Brazil presents shorter schooling when compared to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama,Costa Rica, Cuba and Mexico (ONU, 2019).

In Brazil, the relation between income inequality and education opportunities is clear. Whenconsidering population over 15 years of age, uneducated or having incomplete primary education, it canbe seen that, in the year 2010, 41.78% earned up to one minimum wage. This indicator becomes morerepresentative when directed to North and Northeast regions, which present 60.29% and 62.11%respectively. In contrast, when considering the same population group with complete college education, only 4.01% of population fitted. Regarding the population group that earns more than 10 minimumwages, 64.20% had concluded college, standing out the Center-West and the Southeast region, with64.14% and 66.50% respectively (IBGE, 2010).

Just as income, Brazilian educational inequalities present intensified indicators, especially whencases from North and Northeast regions are observed, according to Ribeiro (2011, p. 55):

Table 3 addresses general elements of basic education, in which the regionalized indicators reflecta dynamic that is similar to the one mentioned by Ribeiro (2011).

Table 3
Major Regions of Brazil: general information about the primary education in 2018
IBGE (2018)

Access and attendance to educational establishments occur disparately in the Brazilian territory.The northeastern population, for example, studies an average of 2.1 years less than the one from thesoutheast. Regarding to the illiteracy rate, the lowest incidence occurs in the population group between15 and 60 years of age, being 3.01 times lower when compared to the population over 60 years of age.Both cases have in common the regionalization of the educational vulnerability. The Southeast regionpresented the best indicators, 3.47% and 10.33% respectively. In contrast, North (7.98% and 27.02%)and Northeast (13.87% and 36.87%) regions had the worst results. In short, considering the average ofthe population groups, in the Northeast the illiteracy rate is 3.68 times greater than in the Southeast,while in the North it corresponds to 2.54 (IBGE,2018).

The highest percentage of people over 25 years of age who completed at least the basic educationis also concentrated in the Southeast. The discrepancy between this region and the Northeast, again withthe worst results, was 14.7%. The amplitude between the other regions is relatively low, as the exampleof the 2.1% between results from the North and the South regions. Finally, the liquid attendance toeducational establishments also has the regional tendencies presented before. The percentage differencebetween the Southeast indicator is 15.1% higher than the Northeast one and 14.5% in relation to theNorth one (IBGE, 2018).

Among other factors, the literature indicates the excess of school absences as a relevant elementto the comprehension of school dropout, according to what was observed in the analyses of Leon and Menezes Filho (2002) and Silva Filho and Araújo (2007). The first mentioned study noted therelationship between income and school attendance, attesting that this factor directly interferes in theyouth advance to other levels of education. The second one considered many different social aspectswhich interfere in school attendance and performance, such as use and marketing of drugs, prostitution,among others.

Figure 1 presents the result of basic education non-completion in Brazilian municipalities and thenumber of common classrooms related to EJA in states. In 197 municipalities, more than 90% of thepopulation haven’t completed the basic education. It can be noted that most of them are located in theNorth and Northeast regions, with the exception of 30. Notably, Chaves/PA, Casserengue/PB and MonteAlegre dos Campos/RS can be highlighted, since they presented rates of 96.71%, 94.90% and 94.72%, respectively. These municipalities have in common high rate of rural population, Monte Alegre dosCampos/RS and Chaves/PA had 79.21% and 88.05% respectively (IBGE, 2020). The regionality ofeducational inequalities can also be observed in other education levels. On average, the population thatlives in the Southeast has 1.94 times more opportunities of access to college education than theNortheastern and 1.80 times more than the inhabitants of the North region (IBGE, 2010).

Figure 1
People aged 65 years and over without completing primary education and Youth and AdultEducation classroom per State, 2010
IBGE (2010); INEP (2010)

Federation units that concentrated more classrooms related to EJA were São Paulo and Bahia,with 18.44% and 11.65% respectively. In contrast, Roraima (0.14%) and Acre (0.55%) presented thelowest participation. When comparing the value with the population of the Federation unit, North andNortheast regions gain representativity, considering that, among states with the lowestPopulation/classroom rates, nine are located in those regions. The highest rates were 33.775/1 in SantaCatarina and 30.996/1 in the Federal District (IBGE, 2010; INEP, 2010).

After analyzing the extreme poverty indicators in Brazil, Alencar (2020) noted the higher proportional rate in rural areas, focusing North and Northeast regions. As mentioned by the author, “thecases of the municipalities Itamarati/AM, Santa Isabel do Rio Negro/AM and Santa Rosa dos Purus/ACare emblematic for this assertion, since in all of them the percentage of people in extreme poverty livingin rural areas is above 80%” (p. 66).

The spatial dimension of educational inequalities integrates income spatiality, having more impactin the human development of the population in rural areas. Molina and Freitas observe theprecariousness of access and attendance in educational establishments located in the rural zone,according to the authors:

The authors observe the discrepancy of education opportunities of people who live in rural areas,which reverberates in low attendance and low success rates at school. In contrast, when they analyze themunicipalities with best rates regarding to the basic education completion, the presence of state capitalsand municipalities that belong to metropolitan regions and medium-sized cities is common.

Among the 100 municipalities with the lowest incidence of basic education non-completion, it ispossible to notice the prevalence of municipalities from the South and Southeast regions of the country.Among them, only 12 were located in the North or Northeast, with the exception of Olinda/PE, Madrede Deus/BA, Parnamirim/RN and Paço Lumiar/MA, the others referred to state capitals (IBGE, 2010).

Table 4 presents the 10 municipalities with the lowest basic education completion rates.

Table 4.
Municipalities with lower indices of conclusion of the primary education: demographic andsocial information.
IBGE (2010); IBGE (2019); MDS (2020)

It can be observed that the selected municipalities share some demographic and socialcharacteristics. The first one consists in the prevalence of municipalities with low demographic patterns,70% of them have less than 10,361 inhabitants (IBGE, 2019). The second refers to the prevalence ofrural above the urban population in all cases. Except for Casserengue/PB, all the other municipalitieshave an equal or greater percentage of 74% inhabitants in the field (IBGE, 2010). Finally, therepresentation of social vulnerability in these municipalities is evident.

In case of making the simple multiplication exercise considering the number of families inextreme poverty and the average Brazilian household composition, it can be observed that, in six cases,more than half of the population live with up to R$ 89.00 per month, as the example of Aroeiras do Itaim/PI, where 69.47% live in extreme poverty conditions (MDS, 2020).

The Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (LDB, or National Law of Directives andBases for Education) says that the EJA is a right of young people or adults who did not have access to orcould not conclude the primary and secondary education at the right age (SENADO FEDERAL, 2017, p.7). In Brazil, 70,274,377 inhabitants have not completed primary education, with 77.04% declaringthemselves illiterate or with incomplete primary education (IBGE, 2010). The scenario presentedreinforce the relevance of EJA in governments’ strategies to the struggle against social inequalities inBrazil.

The Plano Nacional de Educação (PNE, or National Plano of Education), in force from 2014 until 2024, has as a goal to eradicate absolute illiteracy by the end of its implementation. In 2015, the goalwas to reduce the illiteracy rates to 6.5%, a fact that did not occur, considering the register of 8%. TheEJA assumed a prominent role in the PNE because was considered a strategic instrument in the combatagainst illiteracy. Actions such as the availability of opportunities, financial assistance through directincome transfer and service offering for prisoners in the prison system are included in goal nine of thePNE (BRASIL, 2014).

Figure 2
Brazil: illiteracy rate and registrations in the EJA from 2010 to 2019.
INEP (2010,2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019); IBGE, (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

EJA from 2010 to 2019. During this period, the illiteracy rate fell from 9% to 6.8%. There is also a24.22% decrease in the number of registrations made at EJA.

Considering the regional scale, the Southeast region had the greatest proportional and absoluteregression, with a decrease of 34.25% of registrations, representing 513,246 registered students. Inrelation to the proportional value, the North region stands out, with registration involution of 34.03%.On the other hand, the South and Northeast regions have the lowest proportional rates of registrationreduction, 13.43% and 15.19% respectively. It can also be noted that, in 2019, the Northeast presented3.54 times more students registered than the South region.

Considering the location, the urban area decreased 24.96% and the rural 19.45%. With regard tothe gender of the students, the number of women registered grew by 37.35%, while that of mendecreased by 60.74% (INEP, 2010, 2019). The indicators focused on the Brazilian regions reveal theweakening of government investments related to EJA, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5
Major Regions of Brazil: the indicators related to EJA (from 2010 to 2019).
INEP(2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).

The Southeast and North regions registered higher registrations involutions, with 24, 25% and24.03% respectively. In contrast, the South and Northeast regions showed decreases of 12.43% and15.19% respectively. In all these regions of Brazil, the number of professors working at EJA fell. Themost significant impacts occurred in the Southeast (21.52%) and North (13.71%). On the other hand, theSouth and Northeast regions recorded rates of 1.84% and 6.44% respectively. Proportionately, it isnoticeable that the decrease in the number of registrations overlaps that of teachers, considering that inall regions the number of teachers/students has decreased. Moreover, when considering the presence ofeducational establishments linked to EJA, it shall be noticed that, except for the South region, which hadan increase of 23 establishments, the others showed a reduction (inep,2010, 2019).

The indicators presented in Table 5 show socio-political dynamics that relate the importance ofEJA in localities with a higher incidence of social vulnerability, highlighting:

1)The relevance of strengthening of EJA in the South region, which in 2019 represented thesecond-lowest illiteracy rate, coming close to the indicators of the Southeast;

2)The importance of EJA in the Northeast region, in which the reduction of the register ofregistrations was proportionally lower than the loss of educational establishments and teachers;

3)In the North region, the involution of registrations is significantly close to the regression ofteachers and educational establishments.

In 2019, 3,273,668 registrations were made at EJA, with 59.19% linked to primary education and40.81% to secondary education. The age groups with the greatest representations in relation to the totalare “over 40 years old” (22.19%) and “between 20 and 24 years old (19.98%). The access to EJA ispredominantly urban, with 86.71% of the overall value (INEP, 2019).

The educational establishments linked to EJA meet the demands of basic education,corresponding to 81.90% of the total, 60.93% of which are located in urban areas. In secondaryeducation, the concentration of educational establishments is even more noticeable, with only 8.99% ofestablishments serving rural areas. The importance of the public sector in providing education to youngpeople and adults is positive, since 63.45% of the educational establishments are managed by the public administration. In primary education, the municipal network form the majority of the educationalestablishments (72.23%); in secondary education, the state network is responsible for managing 88.88%of establishments (INEP, 2019).

EJA teachers’ profile is predominantly composed of professionals between 30 and 54 years oldsince 76.25% are in this age group. Regarding gender, women occupy 63.70% of jobs. The employmentrelationships are mainly composed of public servants or for temporary contracts. The first correspondsto 60.85% of the records, while the second to 38.47%. The teaching staff is composed of licensedprofessionals (56.78%) and /or specialized (29.33%). Only 2.99% of teachers are masters and 0.43% aredoctors. In addition, the occurrence of mid-level professionals (6.37%) and fundamental (0.10%)teaching classes at EJA is noteworthy (INEP, 2019)

.The verticalization of the analysis in the municipalities indicates the heterogeneity of theinformation when considering the intraregional scale. Figure 3 shows the spatial arrangement ofregistrations, teachers and educational establishments related to EJA in Brazilian municipalities.

Figure 3
Brazilian municipalities: registrations, educational establishments and teachers linked to EJAin 2019.
INEP, 2019.

The mapping conducted in Figure 3 denotes the importance of EJA in areas with high indicatorsof non-conclusion of primary education (see Figure 1), such as the northeastern semi-arid and thenorthern region of Minas Gerais. Considering the Brazilian municipalities, in 751 municipalities therewere no activities related to EJA. In general, the low number of registrations predominates. In 995municipalities between 2 and 50 registrations were registered, and in 627 between 51 and 100. In11.65% of Brazilian municipalities, more than 1,000 registrations were made, totaling 649 cases. The 10municipalities with the highest absolute values represented 15.05% of the total; in common among themis the fact that they are all state capitals (INEP, 2019).

In 3,730 Brazilian municipalities, there was not even one educational establishment located inrural areas, while in urban areas there were 751 cases. The administrative management shows thepresence of the State in the provision of EJA, mainly through federative units and municipalities. InBrazil, the offer of EJA under federal government administration occurs in only 175 municipalities, totaling 208 educational establishments. The private network of schools is present in 1,178municipalities, concentrated predominantly in state capitals, such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, andFortaleza, which together represent 8.71% of the national total (INEP, 2019).

EJA teachers work predominantly in the public school systems, representing 94.38% of the cases.In 4,691 Brazilian municipalities, it was not recorded at least one public servant or employed ontemporary contracts. The training of teachers showed great diversity, including professionals who hadcompleted only the fundamental level (333 cases) or the master’s degree (10,371 cases) and thedoctorate (1,522 cases) (INEP, 2019). The localization of professional action with higher or loweracademic qualifications has a strict relation with the demographic and economic profiles of themunicipalities. In this way, the 10 municipalities with the highest number of teachers with primaryeducation are located in the North and Northeast regions.