MERCOSUR Educational Plans and the recontextualization of its policies in Brazil

Abstract

MERCOSUR emerged in the 1990s as part of the economic strategy of the countries of southern Latin America. Its objectives have ranged from agendas marked by the region's integration movements and neoliberalization processes. Education is part of its agenda as a regional integration that has been at the service of its objectives through the MERCOSUR Education Sector (SEM). The EMS Action Plans since 1998 have set the educational political agenda of the countries of the region. In this scenario, Brazil has enjoyed a relevant prominence in the region due to the emergence of its economy and its population extension. However, the transfer of MERCOSUR policies to Brazil has been marked by the recontextualization of these policies in a particular scenario defined by their social, cultural, structural, economic and political context. The overall objective of this study is to analyze the SEM Action Plans and their recontextualization in Brazilian education policies. The study has based on qualitative analysis of the SEM Action Plans by identifying which policies have been most relevant in the region and how they have traveled to the Brazilian context. This highlighted some important points in the region and in Brazil such as accreditation of degrees, student mobility and integration objectives through Higher Education. It has been concluded that accreditation in Brazil has not been a simple process due to the idiosyncrasies of education itself; mobility has grown among MERCOSUR countries, but most have continued the line of student exchange with northern hemisphere countries; and regional integration has been driven by Brazil with special emphasis through the creation of a regional integration university.