Implementing a continuing educational system in Rio de Janeiro State (1991-1994:) reflections on the brazilian public school curriculum policy

Abstract

In 1991, the reformulation of the Public Educational System in Rio de Janeiro was approved by the Rio de Janeiro State Education Department. As the public school had already been considered a failed institution, it was necessary to make urgent changes in its structure. In this context, a new curriculum proposal called “Plano Básico de Estudos” (Basic Studies Plan) was implemented in the first grades of elementary school. It established an ongoing progression system in which there was no retention.  According to the government, this was an attempt to keep students from lower social classes in school as well as a way of securing excluded people’s rights. Thus, this study analyses the policies and objectives which have guided the adoption of the continuing educational system in the State of Rio de Janeiro. This was accomplished by examining official documents and interviewing those who participated in this project. The results indicate that the project’s urgency and alarmism have contributed to the achievement of a consensus and to diminish teachers’ resistance to it.