Public and Private High Schools and Access to Universities in Brazil

How is one’s identity defined by the opportunities given to him? What differences exist between the privileged and the poor? How do the disparities between the public and private school systems in Brazil shape the lives of the nations youth and determine who they will become in adulthood?

As a high school student at a private, Catholic high school in San Francisco, I was required to read a book entitled “Amazing Grace” by Jonathon Kozel. The book examined the lives of students within the New York City public school system, focusing on a district in the South Bronx known as Mott Haven and comparing the poverty and despair that exists in this predominantly Hispanic and black neighborhood, with Stuyvescant High School, a school within the same public school system considered to be one of the most elite public schools in the country. It was from this book that I drew my inspiration for the fieldwork I hope to participate in Brazil.

A common excuse as to why affirmative action programs are unnecessary is the idea that reform should begin at the elementary and high school levels and that if, properly implemented, there would be no need for affirmative action at the post secondary level. Yet what has been done to implement reform and ensure that affirmative action isn’t necessary? In the US, the government often cites dedication to programs such as Head Start and No Child Left Behind – designed to afford all students across racial and economic divides equal education – however, as Kozel illustrated in his book over a decade ago, in the US, such programs are clearly not reaching the intended beneficiaries as they should be.

In Brazil, I will consider the two “competing” school systems at the high school level and examine the differences that exist between the two. My research will include observing the programs and resources available in both public and private schools as well as the relative life circumstances of the students in these respective schools. Secondly, I will speak to students within the two systems to discuss how they feel their respective educations shape their identities and hopes for the future.

My hypothesis will focus on the “reverse affirmative action” that exists for those privileged with attending private schools because of the enhanced programs and tools they are afforded as a result of their attendance in these elite schools.

Additionally, I will address the issue that while reform at the elementary and secondary education level is surely necessary and ideologically a goal for the Brazilian government, focusing on this alone as a way to correct the divide ignores the futures of hundreds of thousands of students in the present generation, for whom it is logistically too late to benefit from even the most comprehensive and effective education reform programs. For this element, I will speak to policy makers for youth and education regarding the two systems and how they operate. In addition, I will speak to students about where they see themselves within this system – and their plans for the future, as well as how they feel the affirmative action measures that have been employed will affect them.