The cost of an education for democracy

Abstract

This article is based on the conviction that there is an intrinsic relationship between education and democracy and shows, based on official data, how, in Brazil, access to education, in particular, to the highest levels of education with guaranteed learning, is a right denied to many Brazilians. More than that, it is denied, particularly to those children, young people and adults belonging to the poorest families, or who live in the countryside, or who belong to the black population, conditions that normally combine in the same person. The text also problematizes the notion that more education, any form of education, is enough, or that it is enough to increase the average schooling of the population for the country to take the dreamed step towards a substantive, inclusive democracy, immune to coups. Only a broad perspective of education, which goes beyond mere preparation for standardized tests, the dispute for the highest IDEB, an education from a Freirean perspective, can make a difference in the formation of the people of a country. Finally, it discusses the appropriate management model and the demand for resources for a quality public education from a democratic perspective.