The federal government informed this Wednesday (24) that it will implement 216 civic-military schools across the country by the end of next year. The announcement anticipates by one year the goal of the National Program of Civic-Military Schools (Pecim). When it was launched in 2019, the program provided for 200 schools in this model by 2023. Currently, according to the Ministry of Education (MEC), there are 127 schools adopting this model in 26 states. They serve around 83,000 families.
“We are, in this year of 2021, anticipating the goal that would only be reached in 2023, and we will have 216 civic-military schools by the end of 2022”, said the Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro, during a ceremony, at Palácio do Planalto, for certification of civic-military schools that have completed the first implementation cycle, in accordance with the methodology established by the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (Ibict) and by the University of Brasília (Unb), in accordance with the program’s pedagogical guidelines. These schools, which total 46, are among those that were implemented in 2020, and are distributed in 20 states.
The Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro, participates in the certification ceremony of the National Program of Civic-Military Schools, at Palácio do Planalto – Luis Fortes/MEC
According to Ribeiro, the current demand for the implementation of this school model already amounts to more than 300 municipalities, and it will not be possible to meet them all until the end of next year. “The success of this program is such that, currently, we have more than 300 municipalities on the waiting list, wanting to take on this model, and we are unable to attend to all of them”.
The civic-military model is different from the model of military schools maintained by the Armed Forces. According to the MEC, the state departments of Education are still responsible for school curricula, which is the same as for civil schools. Military personnel, who may be members of the Military Police or the Armed Forces, act as monitors in educational management, establishing norms of coexistence and applying disciplinary measures.
To participate in the program, schools must have between 501 and a thousand enrollments in the final years of elementary and high school, attend the morning and/or afternoon shifts, have students in a situation of social vulnerability and performance below the state average in the Development Index of Basic Education (Ideb). In addition, the school’s membership must be preceded by approval by the school community, through public consultation in person or electronically. In 2022, accession processes will be opened for 89 new schools.
During the certification ceremony, President Jair Bolsonaro defended this educational management model. “What do we want with civic-military schools? To show all parents that where there is hierarchy, discipline, respect, love for the country, dedication, kids can learn and be someone up front,” he said.
According to the director of Policies for Civic-Military Schools at MEC, Gilson Passos, there are still no consolidated indicators on the effectiveness of this model, but reports from school directors show that civic-military schools are already producing positive results. “It is possible to see the increase in demand for vacancies in schools and that the issues of dropout, dropout and school violence are no longer the main concerns of the principals”, he said in a speech.
