Students told to recite leader’s election slogan

Brazil’s Ministry of Education has touched off an uproar by instructing school administrators to read a declaration to students ending with a campaign slogan used by President Jair Bolsonaro during last year’s election campaign.

In the instructions issued yesterday, the ministry also said students returning from summer vacation should sing the national anthem. It asked school staff to film the students and send the footage to the ministry.

Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who was elected in October, used the slogan ‘‘Brazil above everything, God above everyone’’.

The ministry backtracked yesterday after the letter sparked anger and posed legal questions. In a new note to schools, the ministry removed Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan from the declaration, and added that school staff should film only those students who gave permission.

The second note said the footage would be for the ministry’s use, and the activity was part of an initiative to value national symbols.

Fernando Penna, an education professor at Fluminense Federal University, said legal issues raised by the effort included the filming of minors, the prohibition against the government engaging in campaigning, and Brazil’s separation of church and state.

Bolsonaro and Velez Rodriguez, a Colombian theologist, support a movement called ‘‘Escola sem Partido’’ or ‘‘Schools Without Parties.’’ It argues that Brazil’s public schools are swayed by leftists, and encourages students to film their teachers’ lessons for proof of ‘‘indoctrination’’.

Bolsonaro yesterday paid tribute to the late military strongman in neighbouring Paraguay, calling General Alfredo Stroessner ‘‘a man of vision’’. Stroessner ruled Paraguay with an iron fist from 1954 to 1989. He was overthrown by a coup and went into exile in Brazil, where he died in 2006, aged 93. –AP