LEARNING IN BRAZIL
Primary education in Brazil is free and starts at age seven. The first eight years of school are called first degree, or primeiro grau. Secondary school, segunda grau, starts when a child is fifteen years old and lasts for three years. Schools usually start at 7 a.m., although primary school children can choose to go in the morning or afternoon. Secondary school finishes each day at 1 p.m. Students who wish to attend college sign up for the colegial program, which prepares them for university. Others may sign up for the tecnico program to learn a trade such as sewing, data processing or welding.
Schools are usually better in the big cities. Rich families send their children to private schools. They provide a higher standard of education and tend to have more funds to spend on training teachers, building gymnasiums or buying equipment for the science lab. Students in these schools usually go on to secondary school and then to university education. Although the universities are public and government-sponsored, private school students find it easier to get in, since they tend to have higher marks. Private language schools in the cities teach English or other European languages. They are popular among wealthy students.
Going to school for many children is a luxury. Few children complete their elementary education. Favela children must often work or beg instead of going to school. Many leave school unable to read or write. Brazil's literacy rate is very low. Even when poor children stay in school, the free state schools are overcrowded, lack money and equipment and have a shortage of teachers.
Did you know?

Some of Brazil's main cities have night schools for the poor which teach, feed and provide medical care for children.