6 YEARS OF THE REAL PLAN GROWTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION There are many historical causes for social injustice in Brazil, namely: the inheritance of slavery; the perverted relationship among economic plans and social policies; and the inefficiency of social policies in the past. The different programmes of direct transfer of income to poorer populations already represents an important mechanism for preserving minimum levels of consumption and income by those segments of society. If one adds the resources allocated to all these programmes, which include rural retirement schemes, unemployment insurance, scholarships and benefits for the elderly and the disabled in low-income families, one reaches the high annual figure of R$ 17 billion. Retirement in the rural milieu represents a true minimum-income programme, for benefits are granted without the corresponding contributions. Such benefits become, thus, important instruments the Federal Government counts on in order to revert the situation of social inequality (R$ 10 billion in 1999, having benefited 6 million people). The enormous social inequalities inherited from a past full of injustice may not be eliminated during a little over half a decade. However, much has been done in terms of promoting social development. EDUCATION Education in Brazil has significantly improved during the last five years, to a large extent thanks to reforms carried out by the Federal Government. For the first time in the history of Brazilian education, the Ministry of Education has defined national parameters for pre-elementary education, for elementary and secondary education, including indigenous education.   Technology is also present in educational reforms. TV Escola (School Television) is a programme geared to long-distance education, and it benefits about one million teachers and 28 million students. Schools have received television sets, videocassette recorders, educational tapes, parabolic aerials and, being connected to an exclusive channel via satellite, they receive high-quality programmes. In 1999, TV Escola started transmitting programmes meant for secondary education as well (16 hours per day of emissions). The National Programme for Information Technology in Education (PROINFO) trains teachers of public schools. These teachers learn how to use computers as didactic instruments in the classroom. The Federal Government, in partnership with states and municipalities, has already put together the training infra-structure in 223 Educational Technology Centres (NTE) in all States of the Federation. Thus, the programme has benefited 2.276 elementary schools in 989 municipalities, with over 30 thousand microcomputers and other types of IT equipment. Two other important transformations were the transfer to municipalities of the responsibility for elementary education and to the States of secondary education. According to Programme Cash Directly to School, for instance, schools now receive federal funds directly, which eliminates the political manipulation of budgetary appropriations, allows more control of the expenditure by communities and encourages the establishment of Parent and Teacher Associations and School Councils (that manage the funds in partnership with the direction of the school). Over 56 thousand new Parent and Teacher Associations were created during the last five years, all over the Country. Brazil is close to having all children in the age group from 7 to 14 at school, thus attaining the goal of universal elementary education. The percentage of children in this age group enrolled in elementary school has increased from 89% in 1994 to 95.5% in 1999. The expansion of the system, which ensured wide access for children and teenagers to education, is a direct consequence of the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Elementary Education and for the Promotion of the Teaching Career (FUNDEF) and of the Programme All Children at School. The priority attributed to elementary education in the last five years has contributed for an important increase in enrolment in secondary school. From 1994 to 1999, there was a 57% increase. In elementary education, the increase was of 13%. In higher education, the increase in enrolment was of 28%, between 1994 and 1999, more than in the 14 previous years.   In order to serve all children who have entered elementary education, the Ministry of Education has expanded the National Programme for School Textbooks (PNLD), which started distributing school textbooks not only for the first four grades, but also for the four subsequent ones. The quality of the books has also increased, for they are evaluated by committees of teachers and only after this evaluation they are recommended and purchased. In 1995, 57 million school text books were purchased. In 1999 the figure surpassed 109 million, that is, it nearly doubled. In 2000, there has been a reduction in the number of books bought (72.6 million), as a consequence of the positive results of the programme of encouragement of the preservation of school textbooks. In a five-year period, R$ 1.4 billion were invested in the purchase of around 500 million books for 174 thousand schools. Another relevant datum is the more accentuated drop in the illiteracy rate among the population in ages 15 or more. In 1990, 18.3% were illiterate; in 1998, 13.8%. The most encouraging evolution occurred in the age group from 15 to 19, where the illiteracy rate dropped by one half, from 12% to 6%. With the swift reduction of the rate amongst young people, illiteracy in Brazil tends to become a phenomenon increasingly restricted to the older generations. The National Programme for School Nourishment (School Snack) is an important instrument in improving the results obtained by students, also ensuring a real reduction of school evasion. From 1996 to 1999, funds applied in this Programme increased by 92%, and the forecast for 2000 is of R$ 920.3 million, which should serve around 37 million students in all 5.507 Brazilian municipalities.