Expansion of compulsory schooling in Brazil: What happened to secondary education?

Abstract

This article is the result of a research that had as object of study the expansion of the right to secondary education for 15 to 17 year old youngsters. Its legal references are the determinations of the Federal Constitution, through the Constitutional Amendment No. 59/2009, the Guidelines and Base Law (law 9.394/1996) and the National Education Plan 2014-2024 (Law n 13.005/2014). The study considers that compulsory schooling is a prerequisite for the universalization of access to education. We analyzed enrolment in the last stage of Basic Education, in the period between 2009 and 2016. The primary sources for data collection were the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad), considering the 27 Units of the Federation. The analysis indicates that, during the period, there was a process of educational inclusion of this age group, especially in the states with the highest exclusion. In the state's networks, the average increase is 12.7% and in the federal network is 102.4%.