Tough job

I occasionally use this blog to say various negative things about Brazilian education. It’s worth taking a minute to look at the reality some teachers face in the classroom while trying to educate deeply underprivileged children.

João is a six-year-old who studies in a public school in the center of a small city in the interior of Bahia. His teacher has already taught some of his numerous older brothers and sisters and has a good idea about his difficult family situation. His family can’t afford to buy new clothes, and few days ago he showed up at school in pants so tight that he couldn’t zip them up. Every time he came back to the bathroom, class had to be stopped so the teacher could help him out. He often has no breakfast to eat before he goes to school. While he’s there, he’s unable to pay attention and spends a good portion of his time yawning loudly to get the teacher to look at him. When the teacher asks him if he knows why he shouldn’t engage in certain proscribed behaviors, he gives a well-rehearsed answer that he learned at home: “Because God’ll punish me.” When the teacher asks him why he needs to get a good education, the answer is equally practiced: “They’ll take away our welfare (Bolsa Família)”.

Recently, he showed up at school bursting with pride because he’d done homework for the first time. But when the teacher looked, he’d only written his name on it, and left the rest of the sheet blank. When the teacher asked why, he explained, “My mom didn’t know how to help me.” The activity had been to write the first letter before each word, along the lines of putting the “A” before “pple”.

It’s tough to imagine that a teacher, no matter how good, would be able to help him keep up with his better-off cohort, fully equipped as it is with breakfasts and literate moms. Long before children set foot in their very first classroom, a crucial part of the difference between private and public education in Brazil has already been put in place.