Migration and schooling in Brazil: an exploratory study on the governmental response to the educational inclusion of contemporary migrants (Migración y escolarización en Brasil: estudio exploratorio de la respuesta gubernamental a la inclusión educativa de la población migrante contemporánea)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses migrant welcoming strategies in the Brazilian public education system and offers critical reflection on the underlying concepts. We argue that the redemocratized Brazilian government provides centralizing, non-specific legal frameworks and policies tending to see vulnerable persons as a social problem; racial and economic biases place migrants from peripheral countries as part of this problem. The data collected to investigate this hypothesis were: (a) the 2019 Brazilian School Census; (b) an inquiry sent to the State Department of Education of all 27 Federative Units of Brazil; and (c) the official state government websites. Our analysis indicated that, in the absence of a federal education policy attentive to the specificities of contemporary migrants, the state governments undervalue migrants and disregard their cultural, economic, social and intellectual potential. The data also confirm that public policies have been slowly changing this outlook into an equitable appreciation of difference but still do not impact the education of migrants. Finally, the notion of Brazil as a welcoming country is challenged.