Education — Brazil · Synthesis

Massively expanded schooling. In a generation, Brazil has near-universalized access to primary school and greatly extended secondary education — a considerable achievement, supported by inclusion policies and conditional transfers (Bolsa Família, cf. Social Cohesion category).

PISA scores among the lowest. At PISA 2022 (OECD), Brazil achieves results among the lowest of assessed countries (around 379 points in mathematics, well below the OECD average of 472) — the challenge of quality after the challenge of access.

Strong educational inequalities. Results vary greatly by income, region (North/Northeast vs South/Southeast), ethnic origin, and school type (public/private) — reflecting and reproducing the country's broader inequalities (cf. Social Cohesion category).

Expanding higher education. Access to higher education has broadened (selective public universities, large private sector, quotas for Black students and those from public schools), but graduation rates remain moderate and uneven.

Dropout and learning. Secondary dropout and learning losses (worsened by the extended school closures during the pandemic) are major challenges.

Improving quality. After the massification of access, the central challenge is learning quality, through teacher training, curricula, and investment — a long-term endeavour.

Reducing inequalities. Closing regional, social, and ethnic gaps is a matter of equity and social mobility, linked to transfers and quotas.

Catching up on post-pandemic losses. Addressing the learning losses and dropout worsened by the pandemic is a priority.

Training and productivity. Connecting education to economic needs (technical training, skills) is a lever for productivity and reducing informality (cf. Labour and Economy categories).

Open questions. Three trade-offs will shape the decade: (1) improving quality after access; (2) reducing educational inequalities; (3) catching up on learning losses.

Placed in its context, Brazil has succeeded on access but struggles on quality and equity — a profile shared with several major emerging economies.

Three takeaways. (1) PISA: among the lowest. At ≈ 379 in mathematics, Brazil is well below the OECD average and below France (≈ 474), at a level close to Mexico.

(2) Near-universal access. Progress on school access in a generation is considerable, given the very low starting point.

(3) Strong inequalities. Regional and social gaps, more pronounced than in developed countries, are a distinctive trait linked to the country's broader inequalities.