UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) emphasizes that countries will not be able to break the cycle of poverty or achieve gender equality without quality education that is inclusive and equitable. Furthermore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself states that access to education is a right for all and that it will promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among racial, religious, and national groups.
Highlighting the importance of this issue for development and peace, January 24th was chosen by the UN in 2018 as the International Day of Education (although many celebrate April 28th as International Day of Education in reference to the World Education Forum held in 2000, when several goals were established by governments for this area).
In 2023, the UN celebration highlights the importance of prioritizing education as an investment in people. It also emphasizes the need for strong political mobilization and outlines the path to translating commitments into action.
Looking at education in Brazil , this year will be very challenging given the complex situation. The pandemic, which marked one of the most tragic periods in Brazilian history, affected students' education, with the temporary closure of schools and the worsening of the economic crisis.
Now is the time for great unity in the recovery and rebuilding of student learning, and support for philanthropy is fundamental to strengthening education, as these organizations act strategically, developing initiatives and seeking solutions that serve as examples for governments to replicate good ideas and multiply the positive impact.
To demonstrate the importance of strategic philanthropy and to celebrate International Education Day, this post highlights three organizations that have received support from the Bem Maior Movement. The investment reached all three stages of basic education: early childhood education, elementary school, and high school.
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Maria Cecília Souto Vidigal Foundation
This organization is a benchmark when we talk about Early Childhood, the stage that goes from birth until the child turns six years old. The experiences, discoveries, and affections lived during this period have impacts throughout life and, consequently, are reflected in society.
Among the recent achievements of the Maria Cecília Souto Vidigal Foundation is the one obtained with the " Evaluation of the Quality of Early Childhood Education ," a broad research project that analyzed more than 3,000 classes in daycare centers and preschools in 12 cities.
The tool's relevance was so great that it became part of the Basic Education Assessment System (Saeb), representing a major advance for Brazil, since until then we did not have a national assessment of early childhood education. Having this snapshot of the situation also serves as a contribution to planning public policies for improvement.
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Education Partners
Through partnerships with schools and state and municipal education departments, Parceiros da Educação promotes greater involvement of civil society in improving public education. Its work values educators and contributes to public policies in São Paulo.
With the support received, the organization worked to implement continuing education for professionals in the network and to improve management practices in school units and Education Directorates (the São Paulo Department of Education divides the state into 91 regions, and for each one there is an Education Directorate).
This program supporting the Education Directorates contributed to the structuring by internalizing training and expanding its reach to more key stakeholders. In evaluating the impact of this action, indications were found that there was a higher percentage of literate students compared to the grouping, and a faster recovery of literate students from 2021 to 2022.
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I ungo
Iungo believes that educators are the main agents of transforming schools into spaces where students develop holistically and build their life projects. Therefore, the institute works to support them. The organization contributes to the continuing education of teachers and school administrators, conducts educational research with the systematization of knowledge, develops reference teaching materials, fosters debate, and provides relevant information to the sector.
Several seeds planted by Iungo are already bearing fruit. The free continuing education program for teachers, " Nosso Ensino Médio " (Our High School), has become a partner of Consed (National Council of Education Secretaries) and is a benchmark for high school teacher training. The initiative has gained recognition and was even a finalist for the Reimagine Education award, the "Oscar" of education.
Amazonian Itineraries project , which will focus on the Amazon in educational itineraries (a flexible part of the curriculum), considering environmental, social, historical, and cultural issues. The content will be available free of charge to schools and education networks in Brazilian states.
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