EDITORIAL

Some time ago, I read an article published in the newspaper "O Estado de São Paulo" entitled 'We are going to transform public education in the Country', written by the executive Jair Ribeiro. In his first paragraph, he writes: "it might be an old saying, but it does not cost anything to repeat it: our greatest challenge is to improve the quality of basic education."

Maybe the author did know, but about 138 years ago, Henrique Gorceix, founder of the School of Mines of Ouro Preto, had already detected the problem. It was his constant preoccupation while he was in Brazil, in such a deplorable situation did he find the primary and secondary education. He said: "Without primary education, there is no secondary education, and without secondary education, there is no superior education, and without superior education, Brazil will not have engineers or useful men to the Country.

"Gorceix even proposed to give classes to the teachers, but unfortunately the teachers refused them.

Today, history repeats itself, and we hope that Gorceix achieves his dream, since the deplorable situation already threatens our best universities, due to politics that place all of the emphasis on superior education without any plans for improving the basic education.

Prof. Jório Coelho

Publisher

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  30 Sept 2014
• Date of issue
  Sept 2014