Supplementary education in brazil: Diversity and paradoxes

Abstract

Purpose

This piece of research provides an overview on supplementary education in Brazil based on the available literature.

Methodology/approach

Literature review.

Findings

In a country plenty of social and educational contrasts, student failure and high repetition rates in basic education are the main factors of supplementary education flourishing. Additional factors are the quick expansion of access at all levels of schooling and the ascension of a new lower middle class that can afford to pay for supplementary tutoring. Tutors at their homes and in small offices are still one of the most common means for students who want to overcome their difficulties and improve their knowledge and skills. However, franchising outlets have grown since the 1980s and in particular the 1986 with the winds of globalization. Their most important branches are foreign languages and preparatory courses, especially for college entrance and public servant selection examinations. This branch of business has been financially very attractive for entrepreneurs. Official data on family budget show that families spend each year a significant amount of resources, impacting the sophistication and complexity of the supplementary education market. In sum, supplementary education is a result of quality deficiencies and inequity. At the same time, it increases the lack of equity between students from different human capital backgrounds.

Research limitations (if applicable)

Main limitation is that research on supplementary education in Brazil is still recent and scarce. On the other hand, till now, no public policy has paid attention to this phenomenon.

Practical implications

Public policy, research, and evaluation fields must consider the phenomenon of supplementary education in Brazil as an important variable contributing to inequity and to academic performance. This chapter calls attention to the need of increasing research on this issue.

Social implications

As it is more valued and easily available to relatively more privileged social groups, supplementary education in Brazil contributes to increasing education inequity.

Originality/value

This chapter contributes to improving knowledge on supplementary education in Brazil, and its causes and implications. This portrait of the Brazilian scenario can also be instrumental for comparative education purposes at regional and global levels.

Citation

Ventura, A. and Gomes, C. (2013), "Supplementary education in brazil: Diversity and paradoxes", Out of the Shadows: The Global Intensification of Supplementary Education (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 129-151. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000022006