On Tuesday February 7, I made my way towards Ayres 120 at 4 p.m. to hear Brazilian native, Elisa Stumpf discuss  higher education in her country. The event started off with her asking everyone what we knew about Brazil. One individual mentioned that their language is Portuguese and that the Fifa world cup which would be in 2014. She said yes to both and also replied the Olympics would be held in 2016 which her country is proud to host.

She then proceeded through her powerpoint about other facts and cultural differences of Brazil. Some facts I found to be interesting is that Brazil is one of the 5^th largest country in the world and is also the largest country in Latin America. Literacy rate is about 90.3 percent of the adult population. Some history include in 1500 the country was discovered and claimed by the Portuguese. In 1889 it became a republic and through 1930 is when the country became a constitutional republic. The most important date is 1989 when the country declared there to be a publically elected president.

After some brief history she proceeded to discuss some history in the higher education area. Beginning in 1808 there were no universities and education was left for the Jesuits. There was a creation of medical schools in Bahia and in Rio de Janeiro since citizens were concerned about diseases, which were popular during that time period. In 1920 is when the first university opened. The university was named, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro.  In 1931 is when the Statute of Brazilian Universities could be either public or private and had to include three of the following schools. These were law, medical and engineering. The educational system functioned in a specific way. They only had Bachelors, which was 5 to 6 years, Teaching, which is 4 years, and Technical, which is 2-4 years. This is a system I am not used to seeing and was interested to hear her talk about.

In the graduate programs there is lato sensu, stricto sensu, Master’s degree, Professional Master’s degree, Doctor’s degree, and Postdoctorate. The university tests everyone pursuing higher education and individuals need to pass this exit exam to even be considered. This again is strange since our educational system allows everyone to pursue it as long as they have money. Elisa mentioned students would party hard and be hazed by upper classmen after they get into the university. In some cases the incoming college freshmen have died since some are forced to drink. She said their government has noticed this and is trying to regulate this problem.

In 2010 there has been 6 million enrollments. The population is 190 million so there is ways to go for the country. Throughout 2001 to 2010 there has been a 110 percent increase in the amount of enrollments, which is good news. Elisa then continued her presentation with new programs, the quota system and introducing PROUNI. Which is University for all or special grants students may apply for. Like any aide or scholarship the student must maintain their grades or else their grant will be revoked.

I enjoyed her presentation and found it interesting how in another country education is not treated with as much importance as other places. However if it were not for a GE event that counted for class I would not have gone. This topic is not in my interest which is why I was not as engaged into her presentation as I would have liked to be. She was a great presenter and I noticed her accent immediately. Some of her slides were in Portuguese and she struggled with translating some of her information, which is another reason it made it hard for me to get into.

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