Benedito Mendonça
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – The Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Seppir) are discussing measures to provide schools with incentives for the teaching of Afro-Brazilian history and culture, pursuant to a law passed in 2003. Among other things teachers should be able to give classes on the subject which include the facts about slave traffic, the difficulties Negroes faced after emancipation and the origins of Afro-Brazilian cultural traditions.

With that in mind, this year MEC will train some 45,000 teachers in a partnership with the University of Brasilia. This year's program follows a pilot program which trained 5,000 teachers last year.

Translation: Allen Bennett