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Protesters across Brazil condemn the government’s decision to cut its education budget.
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro has been strongly criticized by the public for slashing the country’s education budget. In May, massive protests in several Brazilian cities took place after Bolsonaro announced a 30% budget cut for public universities, affecting scholarship funds for graduate students. Then, in late July, the government also deducted around $87 million from the education budget, blocking the production, purchasing, and distribution of basic education textbooks.
The administration also announced a new project called Future-se, which aims to privatize the funding for public institutions for higher education. This privatization could reduce the government’s accountability to education and make it difficult for universities to raise funds since the private sector’s priority is optimizing returns.
Thousands of protesters, including students, teachers, and workers, took to the streets to oppose these decisions. Demonstrations reportedly happened across the country, with some protesters carrying banners with messages calling Bolsonaro an enemy of education.
The National Union of Students (UNE), a student organization that called for the demonstrations, rallied support against Bolsonaro’s moves and planned to push for a bill opposing the privatization initiative.
In response to the protests, Minister of Education Abraham Weintraub [WAYN-trahb] blamed the previous administration for the current issues in national budgeting. The administration said that there are budget cuts affecting all government agencies equally.
Weintraub also explained that the current government is simply prioritizing primary and technical education over higher education. Bolsonaro added that technical areas of study, such as engineering and medicine, benefit taxpayers instantly and should be prioritized.