Neoliberalization of education in Brazil: the impact of cursinhos and the private sector on pedagogical practices and access to university

Abstract

The normalization of a profitable industry of preparatory courses (cursinhos) for the Brazilian university entrance exams vestibular and “ENEM” contributes to one more access barrier to higher education, in addition to factors such as race and class. The case study of the cursinho industry in the city of Goiânia, holder of the highest Gini coefficient of Latin America, demonstrates how cursinho institutions are perceived as a determinant factor to access public universities and have contributed to social and educational inequality. The cursinho industry is shown to originate in the advancement of the human capital paradigm as well as the continuous reliance on the private sector to access services that are otherwise neglected or made precarious by the state. This issue is examined through a critique of neoliberalism and a Marxist critical pedagogical perspective to examine the relationship between the private sector of education and pedagogical practices in Brazil.