Since taking up the post of Education Minister on April 8 of 2019, Abraham Weintraub has already been confused about the numbers and cuts he said he will make in Brazilian education - he took over after the resignation of Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez, a minister who was marked by chaos in his management of the Ministry of Education.
First, on April 30, Weintraub declared that he would cut 30% of the budget of federal universities that allowed a "shamble" in his campuses. Such universities would be the University of Brasília (UnB), the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and the Fluminense Federal University (UFF).
The decision was seen by the media and by students and teachers as a kind of political retaliation, as these universities promoted debates and critical thinking against the current government. This feeling gained strength mainly because UnB, UFBA, and UFF are among the best in Latin America. Unb moved from 19th position in 2017 to 16th in the following year. The UFBA went from the 71st to the 30th.
The good performance of these universities contradicted the "mess" that the minister had said that had spread in such universities. Against this, the Ministry of Education, through the Secretary of Higher Education, Arnaldo Barbosa de Lima Junior, came to the public to affirm that the cut of 30% would reach "in an isonomic way for all public universities."
However, criticism of the government has grown as measures announced by the Ministry of Education have been seen as a kind of persecution of a far-right government for spaces and institutions that produce critical thinking. To try to lessen the criticism, Weintraub tried to convince students and academics that blockade would be only 3.5%. This statement was made in a Facebook Live in the profile of President Jair Bolsonaro.
These muddled decisions led the Bolsonaro administration to face today's first national strike. Thousands of people took to the streets of dozens of Brazilian cities to demonstrate against cuts in education.
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