Brasília, April 14, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The federal government intends to eliminate illiteracy in Brazil in a period of six to eight years. This information was conveyed in a presentation made by the Minister of Education, Tarso Genro, addressing mayors and state and municipal secretaries of education on the guidelines for the Literate Brazil program.

The program, created by Genro's predecessor, Cristovam Buarque, has undergone changes and, from now on, will rely on greater participation by the municipalities. To this end, an agreement was signed with various organizations that represent the municipalities.

The phase of literacy instruction was increased from six to eight months, and the program will be coordinated with youth and adult education. The muncipalities committed themselves to do a better job preparing literacy teachers, who will receive a fixed salary of R$ 70.00. Previously, literacy teachers were paid according to the number of people they taught to read and write. The municipalities will also be given priority in the allocation of federal funds.

The Literate Brazil program will be coordinated with the Secretariat of Ongoing Education, Literacy, and Diversity. The new secretariat arose from the merger between the Special Secretariat for the Erradication of Illiteracy and the Secretariat of Social Inclusion.

The secretary of Ongoing Education, Ricardo Henriques, explained that the idea is to put the elimination of illiteracy within a context of social inclusion. The secretariat will also be in charge of coordinating native education, rural education, and environmental education, and will place greater emphasis on the programs in each area.

The Minister of Education affirmed that the federal government plans to transform the utopia of ending illiteracy into a reality. For Genro, this is a task that the federal government cannot accomplish alone. He also confirmed that this week he will send the National Congress a bill instituting the quota system in federal universities. The Minister did not provide details of the project, but he said that the government intends to resolve this issue, since there are currently 22 proposals circulating in the Legislature on the same question.

Translator: David Silberstein