Throughout the country, 4.2 million students are two years or more late at school. They represent 12.5% of all enrollment in Brazil. The information is from the 2024 School Census, analyzed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Although they still represent an important portion of the students, The data show that over the years the distortion of the age-series relationship has been decreasing. In 2023, it was 13.4% in school delay.
The analysis released on Thursday (25) shows that, despite the overall improvement, the country still has challenges in facing school delay. UNICEF points to inequalities especially when considering the race/color and gender of students.
The age-series distortion among black students from basic education is almost double the registered between whites, respectively 15.2% and 8.1%. The delay also reaches more boys than girls, it reaches 14.6% between them and 10.3% among them.
For UNICEF Education Specialist in Brazil, Julia Ribeiro, school delay should not be seen as a student’s failure solely, but should take into account the social conjuncture and should be the concern of several agents, from family, governments, third sector and school community.
“When we talk about school failure, we often blame the student, right? We need to understand this as a culture, as a set of factors that do or that contribute to these boys and girls begin to fail, that they get in a school delay or a distortion situation and are more likely to abandon school,” he says.
And it adds: “When the student enters school delay, he feels not belonging to school. So, above all, the invitation we make is to understand that the unique situation happens differently for students, happens differently in the different territories. So understanding the reasons behind it is something fundamental. For this, you need to hear the students. ”
One Research UNICEF and Intelligence in Research and Strategic Consulting (IPEC), in 2022, showed that 33% of adolescents believe that the school knows nothing about their lives and their family.
“School is the space that students spend more time in their lives, it is a public equipment that is present in all or in almost all territories. So it is the public policy that is most present in the lives of these children and their families. A third of students say that schools know nothing about their lives and their family’s life is something that is very strong. Certainly for students who are in a process of detachment, if you realize not so belonging to this space is very significant, ”says Ribeiro.
Abandonment
As highlighted by Ribeiro, one of the most worrying consequences of school delay is the abandonment of studies. In Brazil, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), although the indicators have improved over the past few years, many adults (25 years or older) have not yet completed high school.
In 2024, the country reached the largest percentage of the historical series, 56% of the adult population with complete high school. In 2016, the beginning of the series, there were 46.2%.
Greater education enables greater citizen participation in society, besides giving better salaries and better socioeconomic conditions.
According to the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD), having a higher education diploma in Brazil can more than double the salary.
To contribute to governments and schools, in partnership with the Claro Institute and Support of the Itaú Foundation, UNICEF develops the strategy School success trajectoriesfocused on the elaboration, implementation and monitoring of policies to confront the culture of school failure in public education networks.
“We believe in changing and social transformation through education and to achieve this objective it is essential to know the challenges to establish coping strategies. UNICEF’s school success has been doing this with excellence, offering a broad view of the current scenario and a new perspective for millions of students,” says Claro’s director of human development, culture and sustainability and vice president of Claro Institute, Daniely Gomiero.
