Rio Gringa

Boosting Student Exchanges Between Brazil and the U.S.

When I wrote about some of the reasons Brazil's president should reschedule her Washington visit last week, I mentioned that Brazil had yet to crack the top 10 countries that sends university students to the United States. But the Institute of International Education just released their new statistics for the 2013-2014 school year, and there's good news: Brazil is now number 10 in the world of countries that send students to the U.S., with a 22.2 percent increase from the previous year. Brazilians now make up 2 percent of the foreign student population in the U.S., the same as Mexico and Japan, and close to Canada (3 percent). This is partially a result of the government's Science Without Borders program, which has provided nearly 75,000 scholarships for students to pursue advanced degrees abroad since 2011.

The flows in the other direction, however, are still lagging. The number of U.S. students studying in Latin America and the Caribbean rose only 1.8 percent in 2013; the number of students going to Brazil rose around 4 percent during the same period. There's potential for a bigger increase, though, as a new innovation fund launched this year will provide funding to encourage and fund U.S. study abroad in the Americas.

Besides defraying the costs of studying in both countries, one major factor is language. The Brazilian government realized what a big issue this was given challenges some students were facing once they got into classrooms abroad, and it's especially difficult for those who may not have been able to afford extracurricular language classes or bilingual school during their secondary education.

Just today, the government announced the launch of Languages Without Borders, a program like Science Without Borders that will offer scholarships for university students and professors to learn a foreign language online, and in some cases, in another country. The government had previously begun offering free online English courses last year. Now, Languages Without Borders will also provide opportunities for foreigners to learn Portuguese. As someone in college who was intimidated by having to take classes in Portuguese and opted instead to go to Spanish-speaking countries, I think Brazil is on the right track. Now the United States needs to follow its lead by doing more to provide better funding and support for foreign language learning, especially languages like Portuguese, Chinese, and Spanish.

Photo: Science Without Borders students meet before traveling abroad, in 2012; Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology.

Legislating Against Racism in Brazil

President Rousseff with university students from Pernambuco, a state that is 58% multiracial and black.

May 13 marked the 125th anniversary of the signing of the Lei Áurea, the law that abolished slavery in Brazil. More than a century after Princess Isabel penned the law, Brazilians of African descent have 1.6 fewer years of schooling than their white counterparts, and earn about 60 percent of what whites earn. Black Brazilians represent 65 percent of homicide victims, and have an infant mortality rate 60 percent higher than white Brazilians. Black Brazilians make up about 60 percent of the prison population, and have an average life expectancy of six years less than white Brazilians. There's a lot of sixes.

To try to correct these historic inequities stemming from slavery, the Brazilian government has made efforts to pass legislation to ensure rights and equal opportunities for black Brazilians. But can one legislate a change in culture?

The first law was passed in August 2012, requiring public universities to set aside half of their spots for public high school students, largely aiming to benefit black Brazilians. And though racial quotas had been in place at numerous universities for at least a decade, the law inspired and continues to inspire controversy. There are those who argue that race in Brazil is too hard to define, and that social class should be a basis for quotas. Some say the system is easy to exploit. There are those who argue that quotas incite more racism, and lower the quality of education. And there are those who simply deny that racism or racial inequality exists at all. Early results show that quotas actually have the opposite effect, since in some universities, affirmative action students tend to get higher grades than their counterparts (though they tend to do worse on standardized testing, according to one study). I recently had a conversation with a black professional from Rio and a white journalist from São Paulo who both explained why they oppose quotas based on a variety of the aforementioned reasons.

Last year, Alex Castro wrote about race in Brazil for Papo de Homem, saying:

"The worst still are those people (many of whom are black) that are against quotas (and other similar things), arguing that they 'never needed them.' And I consider this and say: 'I agree, of course, how could I not? And what's more, I'm also against that whole dialisis thing in public hospitals and wheelchair ramps in buildings.' All that happened yesterday, and continues happening today. The past, like a stone thrown in a lake, creates ripples in the water and has an effect on the present. The past is the present. Racial quotas are necessary today not to correct the historic injustices of the past, but to correct the daily injustices of the present."

Even though Brazilians of African descent make up at least half of the population, only 6 percent of university students are black. That university classrooms have historically been largely white means a major sea change for establishing a more diverse student population. It means changing not only the culture of colleges, but the concept that universities should no longer be centers of privilege.

Then there's the Domestics Law, which was signed in March and went into effect in April. The law has revealed a serious culture clash between the past of slavery and the modern reality of labor rights. Brazil has nearly 7 million domésticas, more household servants than any other country. The majority are women, and over half are black. Now, household workers have the same labor rights as formal-sector workers, like a 44-hour work week, a lunch hour, overtime, and unemployment insurance.

The fear is that the law could lead to mass layoffs--around 815,000, by one estimation. Some have complained that they won't be able to afford maids anymore; conservative magazine VEJA published a calculator to determine how much maids will cost under the new law. It also published a cover story about the law with an image of an unhappy man doing the dishes with the headline: "You tomorrow." Globo published a piece about what it will mean for families that have to do their own cooking and cleaning. One psychoanalyst quoted in the story predicted "emotional confusion" and a higher rate of divorces.

Historians compared the legislation to the Lei Áurea, saying it was a watershed moment for black Brazilians. Slavery created a "strongly exclusionary society, despite appearing racially diverse and having social mobility," said UFRJ Professor Flávio Gomes. "My surprise, with the domestics law, is the fact that these workers were in a category of "nearly citizens" in terms of workers rights."

Even today, many middle-class homes, even small ones, have a room and sometimes a separate bathroom for a domestic worker. Relationships between maids and families are complex; the movie "Neighboring Sounds" illustrates this phenomenon well. The law aims to change this, in theory, moving from a slave-owner relationship to one of worker-employer. "We’re shutting down the last of the slave quarters and throwing away the key," Senate President Renan Calheiros said last month.

But will the law work? Will families fire their maids? Will they simply ignore the law and risk being taken to court for inevitably lengthy labor lawsuits? Or will they ignore the law and count on the maid not to complain? Or will unwillingly go along with the new rules? Laws in Brazil sometimes "don't stick," and this is an interesting one to watch.

But the bigger question is if the law will actually change the culture of domestic employment. My guess is: not anytime soon. There has been talk of maid shortages due to women moving into other professions, another element of pressure on people employing domestics. My guess is that if these shortages continue and if families fear backlash from not obeying the new law, they may turn to foreign workers, which has already started happening in São Paulo. Brazil has become an increasingly bigger destination for immigrants, and low-paying jobs that involve going around labor laws are natural magnets for foreign workers.

One can look to other countries, like the United States, to try to see if legislation like affirmative actions works or has a sizeable impact. But how long laws take to change a deeply rooted culture is much more difficult to define.

Image: Blog do Planalto

Brazil's English Language Challenge

You've probably read about how different cities in Brazil are preparing for the World Cup by offering English courses to certain groups, from taxi drivers in Rio to prostitutes in Belo Horizonte. With a year and a half left before the mega-event, some are scrambling to teach foreign languages--especially English--in preparation for the expected flood of foreigners in the next few years. There's also growing consciousness about the fact that the lack of English speakers in Brazil means the country is losing money, not only in tourism but business, too.

Unfortunately, a lot of the focus on expanding the pool of foreign-language speakers has to do with Brazil's upcoming mega-events. A very amusing report from Correio Braziliense, for example, found few English and Spanish speakers in Brasilia, where a McDonald's employee pointed a Spaniard to a bathroom after he asked for a vaso (cup, in Spanish), and a host at a fancy restaurant simply hung up after discovering he was unable to understand the foreign caller. Meanwhile, the Belo Horizonte sex workers story made instant headlines around the world. But tourists aren't going to just be lost during the World Cup or Olympics; this is a problem now, and will be after 2016. And even more importantly, the shortage of English speakers adds to the so-called "Brazil cost," a combination of factors that makes Brazil less competitive, across the spectrum of industries.

Luckily, President Dilma Rousseff and some in her administration understand this: Brazil's language gap is a bigger, long-term problem. In late December, Brazil's Education Minister Aloizio Mercadante announced that the government will launch "English Without Borders" in March. The program--which echoes the government's STEM initiative to send students abroad to study science and technology--aims to benefit half a million students over the next year. Initially, 100,000 students with high marks on the country's college entrance exam will receive access to an online English course ("the best in the world," Mercadante says). Students will take the TOEFL exam to see which level they qualify for, and 10,000 students with high scores on this test will receive preferential access to English courses at federal universities. Later, the government hopes to expand the program to Spanish, German, and Chinese. According to a brief report on the plan this week, it's the most ambitious English-language program ever launched by the government.

Still, key questions remain. Will distance learning really be effective? Will the classroom courses have qualified teachers? Will the program be extended past 2014? One certainly hopes so.

But like with many of Brazil's education challenges, an even better approach would be starting much earlier--on the elementary level, as well as the secondary and university levels. It's the difference between CEOs who cannot communicate with foreign colleagues and five-year-olds who have never been to an English-speaking country but speak like California natives. They both exist now. If a government initiative was created for elementary students, particularly in public schools, imagine what the difference would be in 20 years. Hopefully, English Without Borders is the start of more expansive foreign language programs to come.

Image: Acariquara. Shirt captured at a Walmart in Bahia. The first dialogue bubble reads: "It's coll."

Foreigner's Perspective: Studying in Brazil

When gringa blogger Flora wrote about her experiences studying at PUC Rio, the reaction was immediate and sent a ripple through the education community in Rio and even Brazil. It also made the local news, and started an interesting dialogue about university education in Brazil. Some people were angry, and accused her of being an arrogant American; others were excited that someone dared point out problems in the system. So I decided to ask around and see what other foreigners' experiences were like studying abroad in Brazil. I also asked Brazilians who studied abroad to compare their experiences. I've included some of the responses here.

The conclusion? It's a mixed bag. Generally speaking, students tended to have better academic experiences at public universities, more so than private universities. Some noted that there were great opportunities for students outside of class, including internships and research positions. Students who studied liberal arts or social sciences tended to feel less challenged than those studying math or science, though Portuguese was a challenge for most. Many perceived less flexibility for students to choose classes, and more limited opportunities for in-depth classroom discussions or critical thinking in class. Some students found they worked harder than their peers in some classes, just in order to keep up in terms of the language. Many found that students often talked in class or took phone calls (one even mentioned students left in the middle of class to get high). Several mentioned professors who threatened to fail the entire class, and professors who read straight from the texts during class. Several mentioned challenging research or long-term projects that they found challenging and made them feel accomplished. After hearing these experiences, I'd recommend direct exchanges to public universities for anyone looking for a more challenging immersion experience with more opportunities for academics.

The common factor for everyone I spoke to is that no matter the academic experience, they all developed a love for Brazil, and developed relationships with friends, classmates, teachers, and even future spouses. Some went on to work with Brazil from the US, or even moved back to Brazil. In the case of those who are Brazilian and went abroad, they returned with both an appreciation for advantages of their home schools and ideas for improvements.

Note: I'm still happy to take submissions and add them to the post or comments, so please feel free to share your experience.

Read individual experiences after the jump, including experiences at PUC Rio, PUC São Paulo, USP, FGV São Paulo, Universidade Católica de Salvador, and UENF.

Teachers on Strike

The labor movement is alive and well in Brazil, and strikes are a common occurence, paralyzing various sectors of services throughout the country as workers demand higher wages. Recently, there have been three major nationwide strikes: bank workers, who have now been on strike for 18 days, postal service workers, who just ended a 28 day strike, and teachers and workers at federal government-run technical schools, who have been on strike since August 1st. The postal service workers, who are now back to work, received a wage increase of around US$46 a month, and will receive another raise next year. The strike cost around $320 million, and workers are now facing 180 million pieces of mail, with expected delays for deliveries.

Strikes at banks and post offices can cause a major inconvenience, but what happens when teachers go on strike? For some, it's a dream come true, the equivalent of seemingly endless snow days. For others, especially students preparing to take entrance exams for college, it may not be such a great idea. The teachers and workers at Colégio Pedro II, a network of fourteen public high schools in Rio de Janeiro with 10,000 students, have been on strike since August 15th. Around 80 percent of the 1,800 employees have adhered to the strike. The teachers did not manage to reach an agreement, but have decided to return to work this coming Monday, which means the strike will soon come to an end after nine long weeks. Since my sister-in-law is a student there in her last year, I took the opportunity to speak to her and some of her friends about how the strike has affected them and what they have been doing with their free time.

First, some background: public elementary and high schools in Rio, and in Brazil in general, tend to be viewed as schools for those who can't afford to pay for school, since they are perceived as providing a poor quality education. Those who can afford to send their children to private schools, which aren't the same as in the US - they range in price and can be found in many different neighborhoods, so they're accessible to a variety of social classes and not just the wealthy. (Though of course, the more expensive the school, the more competitive it tends to be.) But there are a few exceptions, and those are public schools that require entrance exams for students and provide higher salaries to teachers, with reputations for excellence. Pedro II is one of those schools. It was founded in 1837, making it the second-oldest high school in the entire country. It has an illustrious list of former teachers, including Heitor Villa-Lobos and Manuel Bandeira, as well as a long list famous alumni including presidents of Brazil, authors, acclaimed actresses, singers, journalists, Supreme Court justices, politicians, and even revolutionaries. Students must take an entrance exam to get in, and selection is competitive. Students come from across the socioeconomic spectrum, and aim high after graduation, including highly selective universities and internships.

So what have Pedro II students been doing for two months while teachers have been on strike? For some, it's been a blessing to have time to study for college entrance exams and to attend test prep courses. For those who usually go to class in the morning and prep courses at night, it has made for an easier schedule. Plus, a few kind teachers have been going in or keeping in touch to help students prepare for the vestibular (college entrance exam), which some students have found helpful. "Between my test prep course and a few teachers, I try to maintain the same study schedule so that I won't be at a disadvantage from being out of class," said Bia, a senior. My sister-in-law, Larisse, told me that since she's not exhausted from going to class (she normally has to get up at 5AM to get to school), she has a more relaxed and "dignified" schedule to study, though she feels badly for students who don't have the luxury of a test prep course.

On the other hand, all of the girls I spoke to confessed they've been sleeping a lot more, sometimes through lunch, and that some of them have a hard time being productive. One senior, Mayara, admitted that she has been doing almost no studying, and spends most of her time on the Internet. Most of the girls are worried about missing material they'll need to know for the entrance exams, since the national exam, ENEM, is actually next week. (Each university offers its own entrance exam, though in the last few years students have been opting to take the ENEM, which is accepted at some schools). Students are also worried about what will happen because of the school year. It's possible they won't have much of a summer break, since classes will likely go through December or January. Some are worried that teachers will rush through the material, or not have time to finish it. Since the school year will be extended for two months, students don't know how they will manage to sign up for classes at universities without their high school diploma in hand. It could potentially lead to serious bureacratic headaches for graduating students.

As for the strike itself, students have mixed feelings. It seems most students don't really understand what the teachers are protesting, other than wages. Some sympathize with the teachers' demand for higher salaries, since generally Brazilian teachers don't earn very much. (However, as a few girls I talked to pointed out, Pedro II teachers have higher salaries than other public school teachers, and those with masters degrees and doctorates earn even more). Another senior, Sofia, told me: "Teachers in Brazil are undervalued, and I agree they should fight to make things better. But I've already been through teacher strikes and they never accomplish much, and they never seem to do much either. They don't go to the streets, there are very few public protests, very little advertising, and most people don't even know they're on strike. So in the end, it's not fair to the teachers who don't agree with the strike, and it's not fair to the students." Bia agreed. "I think the teachers' demands are fair, but I believe there are other ways to protest, like marches or open classes, that don't negatively affect the students."

According to the media, the teachers are demanding a number of things: a nearly 15 percent increase in salary, the implementation of civil service exams, a restructuring of career planning, and more government investment in education. They're also protesting a R$3 billion education budget cut. Some teachers are frustrated with the status quo, in which some classes are simply put on hold for months on end or are never given, because a teacher isn't available.

It seems that for dedicated students, the strike may have not been such a bad thing, allowing them to focus their studies on the vestibular, though for less disciplined students, or for those not taking test prep courses, it may have hurt them. But the time spent out of structured classes with assignments and homework wasn't beneficial for everyone. While in Brazil, I noticed my sister-in-law was watching a lot of TV, much more than usual. "I've been watching a lot more since the strike," she confessed. "I think my brain is atrophying."