Brazil is the fifth biggest country in the world and the biggest country in South America. It was discovered in 1500 by the Portuguese sailor Pedro Cabral. From 1530 on, it was a Portuguese colony until its independence in 1822. Since 1960, Brazilia is the capital. Brazil counts 1 federal district and 26 federal states. Brazil counts over 190 million inhabitants. The Portuguese is their official language.
Piaui / Picos
Piaui is one of Brazil’s 26 federal states. The state is located in the northeast of Brazil. The capital of Piaui is Teresina.
Picos is a small town of 200.000 inhabitants. It is the most inhospitable, hot and poor region of Brazil. There is no industry, no work and no literacy.
Rio Grande do Norte / Natal
Rio Grande is another federal state. It is located in the northeast. It borders the Atlantic Ocean. Natal is the capital of Rio Grande do Norte.
Natal is the capital of the federal state of Rio Grande do Norte.
Public education and public healthcare is of poor quality in the Nordeste of Brazil, if ever functioning and available. Private education and healthcare are of outstanding quality but is inaccessible for almost 80% of the population. No education means no perspectives for a job, no social security, ..., no perspective for a decent life at all. Shortly : it is a vicious circle.
Children start at school with an ‘Alfabetisação’ year when they are 6 years old.
Primary school is spread over 8 years in Brazil. Finishing the primary school means that you are fully alphabetised. This achievement is rapidly vanishing since you don’t get access to the labour market, if you are not continuing the secondary school.
Secondary school is comparable to our last three years of the secondary.: At the end of it a central federal exam is organised (Vestibular) which is combined of two parts : finishing the secondary school and getting entrance to a University. At least the last two years are very much focused at preparing children for this exam.
Higher education: All higher education is organised at Universities. You have different types. Public Universities at two levels, Federal and State, and Private Universities. The Federal are of the highest quality. Basically all students have access to the Vestibular. They work with a “Numerus Clausus”, which means that every year there are a number of vacancies (e.g. 80 for medicine at UFRN). You have 2000 students that attend to the vestibular, the best 80 may start the studies. You can imagine how important it is to have the best secondary school education and preparation.
