New leader wants police, discipline code in schools
BRASILIA, Brazil — When students at Ceilandia state school No. 7 in Brazil’s capital came back from their break in February, they were met by two dozen uniformed police officers in a place they barely recognized anymore.
Guns in their holsters, the officers ordered students to form rows in the schoolyard. The students were given white T-shirts pending the arrival of their new uniforms. From now on, hair would have to be kept short for boys and tied at the back for girls. No more shorts, caps, brightly colored nail varnish, earrings or any distinctive pieces of clothing. Students arriving late wouldn’t be let in.
“Sometimes we feel intimidated,” said Michael Pereira da Silva, 17, who was against the decision to hire police to instill military-like discipline in the school. “Just going out into the hall, we are obligated to bow our heads or say hello to police officers.”
Although experiments began in previous years, the quasi-military approach is one of the most visible educational efforts being championed under new President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who campaigned on promises to improve Brazilian schools, which are widely recognized as a problem. A 2015 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked educational performance in Brazil as 63rd out of 72 countries and regions.
Schools now being co-run by police are modeled on Brazil’s exclusive military colleges, which tend to perform better than most public schools — a fact that makes many parents eager to see similarly rigid discipline.
Under the model, teaching remains in the hands of the Education Ministry, while police officers oversee discipline and enforce a new code of conduct. Implementation of the pilot program in a school must be approved by a majority of parents, teachers and school staff in a referendum.
The Ceilandia school is one of four in Brasilia that voted to take part. Officials in Brazil’s capital hope to add 36 more schools by the end of the year and reach a total of 200 by 2022. Bolsonaro’s administration is pushing similar expansions nationwide, though it has yet to say how many it plans to convert across the country.