In 10 years, between 2007 and 2017, the Basic Education Development Index (Ideb) for the first years of primary education in Belo Horizonte went from 4.4 to 6.3. Over this period, successive editions of the survey recorded uninterrupted improvement. Furthermore, between 2009 and 2017, Belo Horizonte always had the best performance among the capitals of the Southeast. In 2017, it ranked 5th in the national ranking involving the 26 state capitals.
In recent years, however, the Ideb for the first years of primary education fell to 6.0 in 2019 and to 5.8 in 2021, remaining stable in the last edition held in 2023. Faced with the qualitative drop, Belo Horizonte fell to 10th in the national ranking. Furthermore, it lost its leadership among the capitals of the Southeast, being surpassed by Rio de Janeiro and Vitória.
Although they are also offered by state governments, the first years of primary education – which ranges from the 1st to the 5th year and mainly includes students aged 6 to 10 – are generally taken over by city halls. For this reason, the non-governmental organization Instituto Cidades Sustentáveis (ICS) included Ideb data in a report that draws attention to topics that deserve to be highlighted in the municipal electoral debate, with the aim of demanding concrete proposals from candidates.
Arte/Agência Brasil – Art/Brazil Agency
In the case of Belo Horizonte, reversing the current situation and resuming the upward trajectory in quality indicators will be a challenge for current mayor Fuad Noman (PSD) or state deputy Bruno Engler (PL). Both are competing in the second round of municipal elections, which will define this Sunday (27) who will be in charge of the city hall of the capital of Minas Gerais for the next four years.
Carried out by the Ministry of Education (MEC) every two years, Ideb is influenced by two factors: the school flow – which includes approval and dropout data – and students’ performance in the National Assessment of School Performance (Anresc). The index scale goes from 0 to 10.
The Index is a reference used by the federal government and other federative entities to develop public policies capable of improving the quality of education, in order to bring Brazil closer to the parameters registered by the countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). ).
The MEC sets a target for the first years of primary education that the national average reaches 6.7 by 2030. In the 2023 Ideb, it was 6.0. Belo Horizonte is, therefore, below the average performance of all cities in the country. The scenario changes when taking into account only the 26 state capitals: in this case, the city of Minas Gerais appears ahead of the average of 5.65.
According to data from Belo Horizonte city hall, municipal schools currently serve 64,499 students from the 1st to 5th year of elementary school. “There are no students in this age group on the waiting list,” states the municipality. The city hall also informs that, for 2026, the opening of a new elementary education unit is planned.
There is more intensive work to deliver new daycare centers, with the aim of reducing the high demand for new places, especially for children aged 0 to 2 years. Four new Municipal Early Childhood Education Schools (EMEIs) are under construction in peripheral neighborhoods, which should be opened next year. Another seven units are planned for 2026.
Belo Horizonte – /Marcello Casal JrAgência Brasil
Pandemic
For researcher and professor Carlos Roberto Jamil Cury, who is part of the Postgraduate Program in Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC Minas), the analysis of the Ideb curve for the first years of elementary school in Belo Horizonte needs to take taking into account the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. Faced with the spread of the disease, Brazil declared a health emergency in March 2020. Among the various measures, there was a temporary suspension of school activities. Furthermore, in many schools, the resumption of classes first took place remotely, using virtual technologies and resources.
“The pandemic greatly affected the municipality of Belo Horizonte and the city’s schools. This cannot be ignored”, says Cury. It wasn’t just Belo Horizonte that suffered from the changes. Ideb’s own national average, which had been on an uninterrupted upward curve since the first edition of the survey in 2005, registered its first drop in 2021: it fell from 5.9 to 5.8. However, in the last edition, it rose again and reached 6.0.
The capital of Minas Gerais, in turn, is still seeking its post-pandemic recovery. “We need to do a finer x-ray and see what the developments are in each of the regions of Belo Horizonte. There are five administrative regions in the city. We need to know if we have a homogeneous scenario between the regions. For this, we need an analysis involving social stratification and the territorial location of the school. It would be important to involve capable and independent institutions to present an x-ray: call the João Pinheiro Foundation and universities, for example”, assesses Cury.
The professor notes that social factors influenced the impact of the pandemic in each location and believes that schools in the most peripheral regions of the city may be experiencing greater difficulties, where students did not always have, for example, adequate access to remote teaching services and technologies. .
“The candidates are, even with some reason, directing the theme of education towards the issue of daycare, which challenges not only Belo Horizonte, but the entire country. But, even on this issue, the proposals are not in-depth. There is talk of just expand investment and open more daycare centers. I don’t see a more elaborate discussion about the Municipal Education Plan, the strategies, the goals”, he assesses.
Teacher training
Cury draws attention to an issue that he considers central in the debate on elementary education. “Certainly, something that needs to be improved is the continued training of teachers. But even for that, it is necessary to have an x-ray that is capable of detecting contradictions, problems, issues that affect the practice of teaching within each administrative region Without this, the efforts undertaken will not reach the school floor. No work will be successful if it does not take into account those who run the school on a daily basis.”
He points out some positive factors that give Belo Horizonte favorable conditions to boost the quality of education, such as infrastructure and better teacher training.
The Union of Education Workers of the Municipal Public Network of Belo Horizonte (Sind-Rede/BH) points out that the search for greater qualifications in primary education demands better working conditions. The entity charges full payment of the national salary minimum for basic education teachers defined by MEC ordinance.
The entity also demands compliance with another demand that it considers central to improving the quality of education: the guarantee of 7 hours per week dedicated to planning. “We also need a consistent policy for serving students with disabilities that includes specific training and planning times”, adds professor Flávia Silvestre Oliveira, who is part of the Sind-Rede board.
