Brasília, March 14, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In Brazil, over 93 thousand Indians attend indigenous schools, while 20 thousand study outside their villages, according to the 1999 census. According to the Ministry of Education's coordinator of support for indigenous schools, Kleber Matos, debating the schooling of Indians all over Brazil is the chief purpose of the National Seminar for the Implementation of Indian Legislation and of the Program to Train Indigenous Teachers. The seminar is currently going in, in Brasília.

In Matos's words, around 3,999 teachers and 1,500 schools serve Brazil's Indians and struggle to provide them a formal education. There are 220 recognized indigenous communities, in 24 states. Around 80% of the teachers are Indians and come from the same ethic community in which they teach, he said. In the Amazon region, there are 17 regions, each with more than 13 schools, and, according to Matos, as far as teaching quality is concerned, the education is adequate. (DAS)