Brasília - A team from the Brazilian Ministry of Education will travel this month to South Africa to present a demonstration on the information system used in the Brazilian school census. The objective is to provide support to the South African government in compiling a data bank on teachers and training policy in basic education.

The program for the meeting, which will take place between February 21 and 25, in the capital, Pretoria, includes meetings and visits to schools, universities, and non-governmental organizations in South Africa. South African government officials are interested in becoming acquainted with Brazil's experience with the school census, which traces attendance by the 50 million Brazilian students enrolled in schools throughout the country.

With information derived from the census, it is also possible to determine how educational policies should be implemented in the country and the quantity of books and food a school should receive.

According to the coordinator of Institutional Relations in the Ministry of Education, Lia Scholze, South Africa is conducting a campaign to guarantee children places in school and make sure they remain in school. According to her, Brazil is one of the few countries with an advanced system of data on education.

Translation: David Silberstein