A Candomblecist mother who found it difficult to enroll her daughter in a municipal school in the city of Maricá (RJ) classified the situation as an act of religious discrimination. She said that she was only able to regularize the girl’s registration after being received by the Municipal Secretary of Education. The folder, in turn, released another version of events: there would have been a lack of documents for the enrollment.
The entire controversy is being monitored by the Rio de Janeiro Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance (CCIR). The entity, founded in 2008 by Umbanda and Candomblecists, currently has representatives of the most varied beliefs. It is now an active voice in defense of religious freedom and participates in activities with government agencies, civil society entities and justice institutions such as the Public Ministry and the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ).
Psychologist Tania Jandira, a member of CCIR, believes that no municipality is immune to facing situations like this, even with progressive administrations. “We need educational work. I know the work of the Maricá city hall. But it seems to me that there was negligence and intolerance on the part of the school’s management. It is the child’s right to enroll regardless of any pending issues”, she says. She understands that it is the municipality’s duty to provide training so that school employees are able to deal with different situations and audiences.
Registration
The case took place on Monday (6). According to Brenda’s report, she and her daughter Stella went to school wearing Candomblé costumes. “We are in line with precepts, that’s why we were dressed according to our Babalorixá’s instructions, something that is a source of pride for us”, she explained. She stated that she had pre-enrolled online on January 28th and gathered the specified documentation. As she reported, in the face-to-face service, the employee communicated with text messages and sought instructions, but ended up not enrolling.
Brenda said she waited for the director to return from lunch to resolve the situation. “Instead of explaining how to proceed, he simply informed me that my daughter would not be enrolled. They questioned my daughter’s age and grade, questioned the veracity of the documents, but at no time did they welcome me or even instruct me. I was scrutinized, subjugated, contested and repelled by the school administration. I left there with my daughter trying to understand the reason for all that”. The case had repercussions on social media.
The registration situation was resolved a day later with the Municipal Secretary of Education. On the same day, the city hall released a note stating that there was no discrimination and that the mother had insufficient documentation, and there were also disagreements about the year the child should attend. “The student’s vacancy is still guaranteed and now it remains for the person responsible to present the necessary documents within 30 days. If the mother does not present them, it is customary in the municipal public network of Maricá to take a placement test to determine the correct grade, according to the level of learning, what will be done with the child in this case”.
The municipality maintains that the administrative rite was followed. “The City Hall of Maricá reaffirms, once again, its defense of the plurality of religions and repudiates any case of religious intolerance, within the scope of any public institution, especially in schools, where learning about the diversity and plurality of the world are essential”, adds the note.
The demonstration caused outrage in Brenda. “I have to make it clear that I was well received at the secretariat and had all the guidelines, in addition to having finally been heard and respected. What I could not have imagined was that the municipal government of Maricá would publish a clarification note saying that all my history was false. All my suffering was delegitimized in favor of the good image of the city hall and its employees. She didn’t even hear my version before publishing the note”, says Brenda.
Tania Jandira assesses that the case reveals a lack of dialogue and a need for greater preparation. According to the member of the CCIR, the proper orientation regarding the documents only occurred after the mother moved against the refusal of enrollment. “It’s no use for the city hall to keep insisting on the same key. We live in an intolerant and prejudiced country. We need to protect rights. In this case, that was lacking”, she opined.
