Opinion – Cida Bento: Quilombola school education brings transformative potential

Teachers, managers and researchers from the five regions of the country sharing their “knowledge and actions” to improve the learning and permanence in school of the most vulnerable students, that is, quilombola, indigenous and black children and adolescents, is something beautiful to see and to take part.

Thus, participating in the debates promoted by Anansi – Observatory of Racial Equity in Basic Education, which took place this week, was something particularly exciting.

In addition to scientific articles and applied research projects that outline scenarios with quantitative and qualitative data on inequalities in basic education, these initiatives develop and make available a varied collection of support materials for use in the classroom, such as maps, games, children’s literature. , in addition to different and creative strategies to support the work of the teacher and the manager, stimulating student interest and involvement in a process that can contribute to the integral development of children, adolescents and young people.

Research protocols, indications for improving the initial and continuing education of professors in universities and recommendations for public policies stand out in this living collection that constitutes the Anansi Observatory.

It was a renewal of strength in the face of the debacle that has been taking place in the last six years, when we saw the scrapping of public institutions and the dismantling of essential programs to ensure quality education, as well as affirmative action programs and the promotion of equity.

A situation that was already serious became devastating after the pandemic, when girls and boys from low-income families were much more affected by the closure of schools because they were unable to follow remote teaching due to lack of access to equipment and The technology.

It is for this reason that the aforementioned initiatives, led by researchers, mostly black women with postgraduate degrees in the field of education, can favor the creation of networks for articulation and support of a field of democratic and quality education, based on in equity.

In recent decades, experts have pointed out that quality education presupposes equity measures such as affirmative action, otherwise, it tends to exclude precisely the students who need it most, and, at the same time, maintains Brazil in the worst evaluation indexes of the education system. , whether national or international.

In this fertile field of research and studies, there is quilombola school education, which, contrary to common sense, does not bring an exclusive perspective to schools located in more than 6,000 communities in Brazil. On the contrary, it brings a transforming potential to all education, as it is based on Afro-Brazilian, indigenous and quilombola values ​​and cultures, offering answers to the challenges of preserving the environment and life on Earth, more urgent and essential than Never.

These projects directly involved around 4,050 teachers, 9,500 students, 15 collectives and social organizations and reached around 60% of the black population in the territories involved.

The projects were selected in the Public Notice for Racial Equity in Basic Education and had the support of a range of organizations, such as Itaú Social, Instituto Unibanco, Unicef ​​and Fundação Tide Setúbal, with the coordination of Ceert (Center for Studies on Labor Relations and Inequalities).

The initiative also has the support of the ABPN (Brazilian Association of Black Researchers, Sankofa Study Group, Anped), the National Association of Education Professionals and Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Studies Centers from various regions of the country.

In this election year, initiatives of this nature undoubtedly represent a great contribution available to candidates for Parliament and the Executive who are committed to the quality of education in Brazil.