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A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
A stocktake of vocational education and training
cycle in Brazil
Vivian Amorim / Amanda Arabage / Juliana Camargo / Lycia Lima / Thiago de Lucena / Laura Ripani /
Sammara Soares / André Portela Souza
From school entry to labor market transition
A stocktake of vocational education and training
cycle in Brazil From school entry to
labor market transition
Vivian AmorimAmanda ArabageJuliana Camargo
Lycia LimaThiago de Lucena
Laura RipaniSammara Soares
André Portela Souza
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV)
Cataloging-in-Publication data provided by the Inter-American Development BankFelipe Herrera Library
A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil: from school entry to labor mar-ket transition / André Portela Souza, Lycia Lima, Amanda Arabage, Juliana Camargo, Thiago de Lucena, Sammara Soares, Laura Ripani, Vivian Amorim.p. cm. Includes bibliographical references.1. Youth—Employment—Brazil. 2. Youth—Education—Brazil 3. Labor market—Brazil. I. Souza, André Portela. II. Lima, Lycia. III. Arabage, Amanda. IV. Camargo, Juliana. V. Lucena, Thiago de. VI. Soares, Sammara. VII. Amorim, Vivian. VIII. Inter-American Development Bank. Labor Markets Unit.IDB-CP-27
Copyright © 2016 Inter-American Development Bank. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC-IGO BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO) licen-se (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/legalcode) and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB’s name for any pur-pose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB’s logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC-IGO license.Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inter-American Development Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.
Table of contents
Executive Summary
I. INTRODUCTION
II. OVERVIEW OF VET IN BRAZIL
III. TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS ON VET IN BRAZIL
IV. DISCUSSION AND CHALLENGES
V. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
VI. CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAFY
A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil i
Executive SummaryThe past decade has witnessed an unprecedented surge in the emphasis given to vocational education and training in Brazil. The surge has been characterized by an increasing fl ow of resources from the government and a substantial increase in the number of enrollments. Particularly from 2011 onwards, with the launch of the PRONATEC program (the National Program of Access to Professional Education and Employment) as one of the main fl agship initiatives of the government of President Dilma Roussef, VET has gained more visibility.
Enrollment and coverage in VET courses still represent a small portion of total secondary education in Brazil, but these have increased substantially overtime. The spending of Fe-deral government on vocational education has risen from 0.04% of GDP in 2007 to around 0.2% in 2013. As a result, VET has attracted more students in the past years that would have otherwise followed a purely academic track. Moreover, the total percentage of students enrolled in both general secondary education and in a VET program increased from 9.0% to 17.0% between 2007 and 2013.
Furthermore, although private institutions still enroll fewer students than public ones, their importance is far from negligible. Such institutions have increasingly played an important role in VET in Brazil, with special attention to the so-called “S” system. These institutions are privately managed but receive public funds through taxes levied on the payroll of fi rms. These are responsible for the provision of approximately 43% of professional and technical education in Brazil.
Despite the progress achieved, VET faces several challenges down the road. These challen-ges are multidimensional and stretch over the entire student experience – from the enro-llment of a student into a VET program to school retention, and, fi nally, his/her transition to the labor market. The challenges include the mismatch between supply and demand of professional skills to school evasion, and lack of transparency from the government and VET providers.
In this context, this study presents six policy recommendations that can help establish a better VET framework for the country. Brazil needs to: (i) develop an awareness campaign focusing on the returns of VET to both students and fi rms; (ii) map the needs of employers and link them to curriculum development; (iii) build strategies to increase school attain-ment; (iv) monitor the students and the training institutions; (v) develop mechanisms for socio-emotional skills; and (vi) provide on-the-job training opportunities.
A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
I. INTRODUCTIONVocational Education and Training (VET) has a meaningful role to play in the development of skills for the workforce. VET programs can ease the school-to-work transition, increase the productivity of workers, and help provide the market with the demanded skilled labor.
Benefits of VET programs in developing countries are well documented. Malamud (2008) shows that when accounted for selection bias, vocational education yields higher earnings for individuals than general education. Tansel (1998) also finds evidence of greater earnings for vocational high-school graduates when compared to regular high school graduates. And Hanushek (2011) provides cross-country evidence that VET students have a higher probabili-ty of employment after graduation when compared to general education students.
With compelling evidence on the benefits of vocational education, it is not surprising that Brazil has continuously invested in this modality of education. The interest of the Brazi-lian government on vocational education traces back to 1909 when the first apprenticeship schools were built. Over the past 30 years Brazilian vocational education and training pro-grams have gained unparalleled relevance. Since 2011, with the launch of PRONATEC - one of the largest VET program umbrella in Brazilian history –, the sector has gained more visi-bility, shaping the Brazilian vocational scheme today.
The remainder of this paper is divided into 5 main sections: (II) overview of VET in Brazil; (III) trends and innovations of VET in Brazil; (IV) main challenges for VET in Brazil; (V) policy recommendations; and (VI) conclusion.
iii
II. OVERVIEW OF VET IN BRAZIL2.1. A Historical Outlook: From Apprentice Schools to PRONATEC
The history of vocational training in Brazil starts in 1909, when the Federal Government created the Escolas de Aprendizes e Artífices (Apprenticeship Schools). The schools provided technical training to poor students at primary schooling level, and were not designed to supply the labor market with specific skills. For almost a century, these schools represented the VET efforts of the country and were the foundation for the current VET system (Figure 1).
A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil 1
Figure 1. Timeline of VET in Brazil
1909 1942
1937
1937 Constitution
General Educationbecomes mandatory
Reform by President Lula
PRONATECLaunched
Law of Guidelinesand PLANFOR
Renamed to CEFET,offers tertiarycourses
PROEP Launched
ASs rearranged intoIndustrial Schools (ISs)
ISs receiveAutarchy Status
Creation ofApprenticeship Schools (ASs)
1962 1978 1996 2011
200419971971
2 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
The schools underwent a series of transformations during the first half of the 20th century. In 1971, general education became mandatory in the core curriculum of technical schools. This mandate was the result of the belief that combining basic with technical education would increase returns to technical school graduates. Consequently, schools were granted secondary school status and later on started offering tertiary courses. These schools ultima-tely evolved into what is known today as the Federal Institutes of Technological Education (IFET, in Portuguese).
Several important efforts towards developing the present-day VET Education System in Bra-zil were made from 1996 onwards. The efforts are divided among several initiatives, laws, and guidelines for design and financing of VET programs. Consequently, enrollment increa-sed sharply as did federal spending on vocational education - from Rs 720.3 million (0.04% of GDP) in 2003 to Rs 7,614 billion 0.2% of GDP) in 2013 (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Federal Expenditure on Vocational Education% of GDP
Source: SIAFI
The main initiative related to VET in Brazil today was launched by the Federal Government in 2011 to become one of the largest VET programs in Brazilian history: the National Program of Access to Professional Education and Employment (PRONATEC, in Portuguese). The pro-gram aims at expanding access to VET in order to bridge the lack of skills of the population and increase their employability. To do so, PRONATEC has been increasing the number of VET suppliers and the number of courses as well as offering financial assistance to vulnerable students. Today, PRONATEC provides 646 types of short qualification courses and 220 techni-cal courses. The accumulated enrollment rate of PRONATEC programs has been on the rise, particularly for Bolsa Formação (See Figure 3).
02003
Spending
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
0,05
0,1
0,15
0,2
0,25
3A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Figure 3. Accumulated Enrollment Rate in PRONATEC (2011-2014)1
Source: SETEC/MEC, November 2014.
PRONATEC is composed of six smaller programs: (1) Bolsa Formação (Training Scholarship); (2) FIES Técnico (Technical FIES); (3) E-Tec Network; (4) "S" System Agreement; (5) Brasil Profissionalizado (Professionalized Brazil); and (6) the Expansion of the Federal Network. The programs Bolsa Formação and FIES Técnico are both related to student financing. Bol-sa Formação, a scholarship voucher, is one of the most important PRONATEC initiatives. It comprises two modalities: Bolsa Formação Estudante, directed to students enrolled in public secondary schools; and Bolsa Formação Trabalhador, intended primarily to cater to a low-income public. FIES Técnico, on the other hand, offers low interest rate loans to vo-cational education students, previously only available to general education students. Also, FIES Empresa offers low interest loans to companies willing to offer professional qualification to their employees.
The programs E-Tec Network and Brasil Profissionalizado finance the development of VET institutions. The E-Tec Network provides financial assistance to institutions looking to in-crease the offer of distance learning professional courses free of charge to PRONATEC stu-dents. Brasil Profissionalizado also offers financial assistance, but specifically to the state network looking to expand their structure.
Last, the S System Agreement was signed in 2008 between the federal government and two institutions of the S System – SENAI and SENAC. The S System is a group of 10 institutions that play a very important role in the provision of VET in Brazil. The agreement suggests that, by 2014, SENAC and SENAI had to allocate two thirds of their revenues from compulsory taxation to the provision of free professional and technical education programs.
1 These values correspond to the accumulated number of enrollments in only technical courses, not inclu-ded here the FIC courses. For 2014, such number corresponds to the total enrollment until August, 2014
0200.000400.000600.000800.000
1.000.000
1.200.000Bolsa-Formação(student)
2011 2012 2013 2014
BrasilProfissionalizadoE-TEC Network
S-System Accordance
Federal Network
4 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
2.2. VET in Brazil Today
2.2.1 Structure The current scheme of VET is divided into three different levels, illustrated in Figure 4.
[1] FIC courses
Initial or Continued Qualification courses (FIC in Portuguese) are typically short-term courses and do not grant any educational level degree (secondary or tertiary). They rather focus on practical knowledge for very specific careers such as butchers, hair dressers, waiters, receptionists, among others. Their goal is to provide an initial qualification to those whose level of educational achievement is low or who have no practical training or experience. They target the general public. Anyone who is interested can enroll in those courses. There are no requirements regarding educational degree or age.
In particular, 89.5% of FIC courses are offered by the S System, while the other 10.5% are the responsibility of the technical networks of the federal and state governments.
If well-tuned to the needs of the labor market of a given region, this modality has the po-tential to broaden the opportunities of insertion (or reinsertion) in the labor market. Figure 5 shows that both professional education modalities – FIC and Technical – have expanded significantly over the past 4 years. FIC courses had an unprecedented evolution due mainly to the government initiative to expand free courses to poor groups.
Figure 4. Levels of Brazilian Vocational System
Levels
Any level
High School Level Simultaneous
Simultaneous
Not Simultaneous
University Level
Initial andContinued
(FIC)
Technical
Technological
Concomitant
Sequential
Integrated
5A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
[2] Technical Courses
Technical Courses provide professional training to students enrolled in secondary school and secondary school graduates. These courses operate in three modalities:
(1) Integrated - offered to students who want to attend simultaneously vocational and general education courses at the same institution.
(2) Concomitant - offered simultaneously to those students enrolled in a general education course elsewhere but want to enroll in a technical course in another institution.
(3) Sequential - offered only to those who have already completed secondary school and it is normally held in one institution.
These courses represent a small portion of total secondary education in Brazil. In 2013, the number of students enrolled exclusively in general education was around 6.8 million, whe-reas the number of students enrolled in technical education was 1.4 million. When compa-red to general education courses over time, technical courses are attracting more students that would otherwise follow a general track (Figure 6). While the number of general secon-dary students dropped 9.4% from 2007 to 2013, the number of technical secondary students increased 45% between 2007 and 2013.
Figure 5: Accumulated Enrollment Rate in Qualification and Training Cour-ses (2011 – 2014)
Source: SETEC/MEC (November, 2014)2
2 These values correspond to the accumulated number of enrollments. For 2014, such number corresponds to the total enrollment until August, 2014.
2011
Technical
2012 2013 20140
2.000.000
4.000.000
6.000.000
8.000.000
10.000.000
FIC (qualification course) Total
6 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
The trend in enrollment in the different modalities of technical secondary education is presented in Figure 7. Sequential courses represent more than half of the total enrollments in technical secondary education. From this fact, it may be inferred that most students enrolling in technical education do so after graduating from secondary general education.
Figure 6: Technical vs General Secondary Education in Brazil
Figure 7. Technical Courses Breakdown
Source: INEP/MEC, 2014
Source: INEP/MEC, 2014
Technological Secondary Education General Secondary Education
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130
200.000
400.000
600.000
800.000
Integrated Concomitant Sequential Total
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
600.000500.000400.000300.000200.000100.000
0
7A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Figure 8: Technological VS General Tertiary Education in Brazil
Source: INEP/MEC, 2014
[3] Technological Courses
Technological courses are equivalent to tertiary level courses. These programs are only available to secondary school graduates and grant a diploma that is equivalent to a univer-sity degree. Therefore, as mentioned before, in order to enroll in a technological course, students are required to have completed high school, but not necessarily technical high school. Technological courses tend to last three years, one year less than the average ter-tiary degrees.
As in technical education, technological education also seems to be experiencing an in-crease in enrollment over the past seven years. The number of technological students in-creased drastically by 140%, from 414,822 in 2007 to 995,746 in 2013. Similarly to technical education, both general and technological tertiary education have experienced substantial increases between 2007 and 2013 (Figure 8).
2.2.2. Public vs Private VET provision
Institutions offering VET courses can be public or private. The Federal Network of Vocational Institutions comprises the public system. It consists of three main types of institutions: i) Federal Institutes, ii) Technical Schools associated to Federal Universities, and iii) Techno-logical Centers and Universities. Aside from the federal network, each state has its own state network with decentralized funding. This network is composed of Faculdades Técnicas Estaduais (State Technical Universities – FAETEC, focused on tertiary education) and Escolas Técnicas Estaduais (State Technical Schools - ETE, focused on secondary education). Muni-cipal Networks are less relevant as they tend to be small. Figure 9 presents the total enro-llment, private and public, in technical education. Figure 10 presents the public enrollment in technical education divided by federal, state and municipal network.
Technological Tertiary Education General Tertiary Education
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130
200.000
400.000
600.000
800.000
8 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Although private institutions still enroll fewer students than public ones, their importance is far from negligible. Private institutions may be divided into 2 subgroups: private voca-tional schools or universities, and institutions of the S System. It is important to highlight that there is a recent cooperation between the federal government and private educational establishments. Besides FIES Técnico, a student holding Bolsa Formação Estudante is also able to enroll in a technical course hosted by an enabled private institution. In 2014, private vocational schools were responsible for only 19.9% of total enrollments in technical3 courses in Brazil (Ministry of Education, 2014). However, the S System providers themselves are responsible for the provision of 43% of professional and technical education in the country4.
3 The enrollment rate of 19.9% regards only technical courses, not short term qualification courses (FIC). 4 Source: Pesquisa CNI-IBOPE: Retratos da sociedade brasileira: Educação profissional: Janeiro 2014. Confe-deração Nacional da Indústria. – Brasília: CNI, 2014.
Figure 9. Enrollment in Technical Education: Private VS Public (Total)
Figure 10. Enrollment in Technical Education: Private VS Public (Federal, State and Municipal)
Source: INEP/MEC, 2014
Source: INEP/MEC, 2014
PrivatePublic800.000
700.000
600.000
500.000
400.000
300.0002007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Total
Private
State Network
Federal Network
Municipal Network0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
200.000400.000600.000800.000
1.000.0001.200.0001.400.000
9A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Table 1: S System Institutions
2.2.3 The S System Provision
The Brazilian S System is a group of entities classifi ed as autonomous social services, non-pro-fi t private entities that exert private activities of public interest. Each autonomous social service is linked to an economic sector responsible for: (1) promoting the improvement of the quality of life of workers within that sector; and (2) providing professional and technical education to fulfi ll the demand for qualifi ed workers within the sector.
The S System is composed of a network of 10 diff erent institutions, detailed in Table 1.
Acronym Name Mission
SENAI
SESI
IEL
SENAC
SESC
SEBRAE
SENAR
SENAT/
SEST
SESCOOP
To promote professional and technological education, to innovate and transfer industrial technologies in order to stimulate industry’s compe-tition.
To enhance industry workers and their families’ quality of life by taking actions related to education, health and leisure.
To stimulate industrial fi rms’ competitiveness by providing custom mana-gement improvement and management education programs.
To off er professional and technical education to workers on commerce, services and tourism sectors.
To enhance commerce workers and their families’ quality of life by exe-cuting programs related to education, health, leisure and culture.
To stimulate entrepreneurship and support micro and small enterprises by promoting their competitiveness and sustainability.
To off er professional education and promote social progress in rural areas, increasing the quality of life of rural workers and contributing to the country’s development.
The National Learning and Social Services of the Transport Sector To promote the quality of life of transport workers by off ering health, culture, leisure and safety programs, as well as vocational training.
To promote the development of cooperatives by advising their establi-shment, monitoring, supervising, and by auditing their work, as well as providing vocational training for their workers.
The National Learning Service of the Indus-trial Sector
The Social Service of the Industrial Sector
Euvaldo Lodi Institute
The National Learning Service of the Com-mercial Sector
The Social Service of the Commercial Sector
Brazilian Micro and Small Enterprises Support Service
The National Learning Service of Rural Areas
The National Learning and Social Services of the Transport Sector
The National Learning Service of Cooperative
10 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Although privately managed, the institutions of the S System are not entirely privately fun-ded. While part of their revenues is private, as they may charge for some of their services, a signifi cant share of their revenue is public. They may collect mandatory taxes over payrolls of fi rms of their corresponding sectors. The way each institution of the S System collects taxes varies according to the entities. Some institutions collect taxes directly while others make use of government collection services. Furthermore, rates may diff er according to the specifi c characteristics of the fi rms. Table 2 contains the tax rates by institution, calculated mostly on gross revenue.
In terms of professional and technical education provision, two of the most important en-tities are SENAI (the National Learning Service of Industrial Firms) and SENAC (the National Learning Service of Commercial Firms). Figure 11 shows that enrollments in SENAI’s programs between 2009 and 2013 increased 42%, from 2,398,841 to 3,417,574. This shows that VET has been gaining importance not only in the public but also in the private system (Figure 11).
Table 1: S System Institutions
Entity SENAI SESI SENAC SESC SEBRAE SENAR SEST SENAT SESCOOP
Fee 1.00% 1.50% 1.00% 1.50% 0.3% to 0.2% to 1.50% 1.00% 2.50%
Rate 0.6% 2.5%
Source: Senado Federal (http://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/glossario-legislativo/sistema-s)
Figure 11. SENAI Enrollments
Source: SENAI, SESI and IEL- Relatório Anual 2012 and Relatório Anual 2013
2009
2.398.841 2.362.312 2.533.7783.052.294
3.417.579
2010 2011 2012 2013
11A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
The enrollments in SENAI and SENAC have increased due to their partial gratuity in com-pliance with agreement between the institutions and the Brazilian Federal Government. According to this agreement, by 2014, SENAI and SENAC should have allocated two thirds of annual revenues from compulsory taxation to the provision of free professional and techni-cal education programs. In 2013, out of the 1,663,685 enrolled in SENAC professional and te-chnical education courses, nearly 1 million students had access to education free of charge.
2.3. Evidence on the Impacts of VET in Brazil
The previous section described the Brazilian VET system and showed how its relevance has increased in Brazil. Increases in enrollment indicate more people are obtaining vocational training in Brazil. But what do we know about the impacts of VET programs in Brazil? Do VET graduates obtain higher wages? Are there differences in quality and in market absorption of graduates from public versus private systems?
Almeida et al. (Forthcoming) and Costa Lima, Fernandes and Vasconcellos (2010) use diffe-rent methodologies to analyze the impact of different categories of professional education on earnings and on the probability of being employed. Using a propensity score approach, Almeida et al. estimate that the return to vocational secondary education on wages is on average 9.7% higher than the equivalent general education level. This impact is slightly smaller in magnitude than the one found by Costa Lima et al. (2010). In a latter study, the authors find a wage differential of 12.5 % (also significant at 1% level) using an ordinary least squares approach, and of 12.9% using a propensity score matching approach. An additional interesting analysis made by Almeida et al. separates the effects by institution type. This analysis shows that courses offered by the "S" System seem to be associated with larger wa-ges, followed by private institutions and public institutions.
Assunção and Gonzaga (2010) use the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of 2007 to identify the effects of qualification and technical education on earnings. Considering a sam-ple of employed individuals at ages 18 to 64, the authors find that the earnings of individuals with a qualification course are 9.8% higher when compared to individuals with the equiva-lent level of education. Decomposing this difference by institutional nature, their findings corroborate the argument that the S System is associated with higher earnings than other private and public qualification programs (13.5% against 8.9% and 5.9%, respectively). These differences on earnings in the S System vary according to region. It presents much higher earning differentials in the poorest North and Northeast regions, where there is a higher concentration of unskilled workers.
Oliva (2014) studies the impact of technical and technological training programs on place-ment and wages using the data collection of Centro Paula Sousaon5 placement of former students a couple of years after their completion. Using this data, the author finds positive
5 Centro Paula Souza (CPS) is an Educational Center in São Paulo that offers technical and technological degrees.
12 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
and signifi cant impacts on former students, mainly on job market variables. The employ-ment probabilities of graduates increase by 3.47 percentage points in general, and by 5.58 p.p for females particularly.
The study also fi nds that CPS is associated with increases in earnings by 7.8 percentage points, on average. When observing male students only, the increase is even larger: 10.2 percentage points. Oliva (2014) also fi nds positive gains in formal work probabilities – an increase of 2.7 p.p. Moreover, these diff erences favoring CPS workers in occupation, formal work and wages are larger in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region (RMSP) than in the rest of the municipalities of the state. On the other hand, analyzing the impact of gender, these diff erences are larger in women outside the metropolitan region and in men in RMSP.
13A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
III. TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS ON VET IN BRAZIL
Vocational education and training (VET) became an educational policy trend in Brazil. The large investments made and the targeted achieved goals reveal the growing emphasis this modality of education has received over the past years. The government reported6 an ex-pansion of 1,561,745 new VET enrollments, which corresponds to an average growth rate of about 47% from 2011 to 2014 over 3,535 municipalities, around 63% of total Brazilian mu-nicipalities. The substantial increase brings forth new investment priorities, innovations in policy design and financing mechanisms, along with a series of challenges.
3.1. VET as a Social Inclusion Program
The main initiative related to VET in Brazil today – PRONATEC – does not emphasize techni-cal and vocational education as a means of supplying the market with the necessary skilled labor force, but rather as a vehicle to promote social and productive inclusion. It includes a strong social policy component, clearly aiming “to promote training opportunities to tee-nagers, workers and the beneficiaries of the cash transfer programs”. It innovates mainly in the area of providing financial support to vulnerable students to enable their training and further insertion in the labor market.
3.1.1. Financing Mechanisms for the Vulnerable Population
The Bolsa Formação (BF) is the main financing mechanism within PRONATEC. Its innovation lies in providing free training to the vulnerable population previously unable to afford VET through scholarships. The government sponsors vacancies in professional education institu-tions already well-established in the market and encourage students and workers to attend trainings.
In 2013, the amount invested in BF was approximately R$ 2.7 billion allocated to more than 3,200 municipalities. This amount financed a total of 1.5 million enrollments, and accounts for 27% of total expenditures on vocational and training courses. Figure 12 shows the total
6 (SETEC/MEC, August 2014).
14 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
enrollment in Bolsa Formação Estudante and Bolsa Formação Trabalhador while figure 13 presents the total investment evolution in Bolsa Formação from 2011 to 2013. Figure 14 shows the profile of beneficiaries: 60% women, 98% of the beneficiaries have completed secondary school or less and 16% have completed primary school or less.
Figure 12. Evolution of Bolsa Formação Enrollments (2011 – 2014)
Source: SETEC/MEC, 2014
0200.000400.000600.000800.000
1.000.0001.200.0001.400.000
2011 2012 2013 2014
Bolsa-Formação Estudante Bolsa-Formação Trabalhador
Figure 13. Evolution of Bolsa Formação Expenditures in R$ Billion (2011 – 2013)
Source: Relatório SETEC, 2011 and Relatório SETEC, 2012
2011
0,46
1,5
2,6
2012 2013
R$
Billio
ns
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3Bolsa formação’s annual expenditure
15A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
A modality of VET that increased dramatically was the FIC courses, mainly driven by fun-ding availability through Bolsa Formação. FIC are shorter term qualification courses, which offered 1,215,691 new vacancies from 2011 to 2013. According to Wiik et al. (2014), in 879 municipalities in the five Brazilian regions, the beneficiaries of Bolsa-Formação Trabalha-dor can be subdivided into two main types: (i) fresh out-of-high school students seeking to improve curricula to get better-paid positions; and (ii) older people with low education who have had little or no experience and sought to enter the formal labor market often as autonomous workers.
3.1.2. Social and Productive Inclusion of Vulnerable Women
Mulheres Mil (Thousand Women) was launched in 2011 as a gender-focused program aiming at promoting social and productive inclusion of socio-economic vulnerable women through free qualification courses. Specifically, the program allows women living in vulnerable com-munities to have access to vocational training. It includes the promotion of entrepreneurs-hip, digital inclusion, self-esteem, health, rights, duties and cooperative thinking. The positive assessments of this initiative led to its expansion with the goal of reaching 100 thousand women from 2011 to 2014. Since 2013, the program Mulheres Mil partnered with PRONATEC Bolsa Formação Trabalhador to expand the number of vacancies offered and, hence, broaden the impact of the program on social inclusion of vulnerable women.
Figure 14. Gender and Schooling of Beneficiaries of Bolsa Formação
Source: Relatório SETEC, 2011, Relatório SETEC, 2012 and Relatório SETEC, 2013
Men40%
Women
Incomplete Primary School
8,5%
Complete Primary School7,5%
Incomplete Secondary
School41%
Complete Secondary
School41%
Incomplete College
1%
60%
16 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
3.2. Incorporating Educational Technologies in VET: The Expansion of Distance Learning
Another innovation in VET in Brazil is government initiatives to explore technology in trai-ning education. Online education is becoming an increasingly important tool for the expan-sion of professional and technical education in Brazil.
Launched in 2007 by the Ministry of Education and set up in 2011 as one of the initiatives of PRONATEC, the E-TEC Network seeks to expand supply to free public technical distance-lear-ning courses. In addition to offering secondary level courses, it is also part of the strategy to expand distance-learning modality for FIC short-term courses and undergraduate technology courses. Figures 15, 16 and 17 show evidence of the growing importance of distance learning in Brazil: the evolution of the expenditures of the federal government on E-TEC network, and the evolution and regional distribution of E-TEC support poles, respectively.
For institutions interested in joining the E-TEC Network, setting-up "support poles" is a requirement in order to attain adequate infrastructure and human resources for classroom activities. Between 2011 and 2013, the number of support poles increased by 260% as illus-trated in Figure 16.
Figure 15. E-Tec Annual Federal Expenditures in R$ Millions
Source: Relatório SETEC, 2011, Relatório SETEC, 2012 and Relatório SETEC, 2013.
2011 201220102009
59,351,5
65,45
81,73
0
20
40
60
80
100 Annual expenditure
R$
Milli
ons
17A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
However, support poles are not equally distributed among Brazilian regions. They are con-centrated in the South (one of the richest regions in Brazil) as illustrated by Figure 17.
Figure 16. Evolution of Brazil E-Tec Network’s Number (Accumulated) of Support Poles
Source: Relatório SETEC, 2013.
2011
Support Poles
2012 2013
543
841
1.409
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
The E-TEC Network has a well-established monitoring and evaluation system. Since 2010, there are reports with opinion surveys on the quality of courses in various dimensions.
Figure 17. Regional Distribution of Brazil E-Tec Network’s Support Poles
Source: Relatório SETEC, 2013
Midwest North South SoutheastNorthearst
187
86
268
577
291
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
18 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Students, teachers, coordinators and tutors participate in the evaluation process through questionnaires sent via e-mail and replied voluntarily. In 2014, there was a total of 11,857 evaluations in Brazil. The majority of respondents considered E-TEC Network to be well sui-ted to market needs while 26% claimed the courses should be adjusted to better fit market needs.
3.3. Fostering VET Initiatives from Companies
Although the main emphasis of the government in VET is to promote social inclusion, there are ongoing initiatives to promote VET as a whole - for both vulnerable and non-vulnerable populations. The FIES initiative was launched in 2012 as a subsidized credit line to finance both students willing to join a VET course and companies willing to offer professional qualifi-cation to their employees. The interest rate of the FIES loans is 3.4% per year, which is very low compared to the Brazilian interest rate (SELIC – currently 12.75% per year).
Figure 18. Student’s Evaluation on E-Tec’s Courses (2014)
Source: Relatório Geral SAAS, 2014.
Suited to the market
Could be adjusted
Need urgent review
66,1%
26,6%
4,7%2,6%No answers
19A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
4.1. Entry Challenges
The main challenge related to school entry is student information asymmetry prior to en-rollment. The lack of accurate and comprehensive information on a specific course – from curriculum structure to workload requirement and employability potential –, may misguide students before or after enrollment.
IV. DISCUSSION AND CHALLENGESThe past decade witnessed an unprecedented surge in the emphasis given to the role of vo-cational education and training (VET) in Brazil. This has been characterized by an increasing flow of resources from the government to vocational education and training and a substan-tial increase in the number of enrollments. Particularly, from 2011 onwards, with the launch of the PRONATEC program as one of the main flagship initiatives of the administration of President Dilma Roussef, VET has gained more visibility. Despite substantial achievements, some challenges remain.
The challenges related to VET students and providers in Brazil are multidimensional and stretch over the entire student experience – from the entry of students in a VET program to school retention, and their transition to the labor market (Figure 19).
Figure 19. Challenges of VET
Source: Relatório Geral SAAS, 2014
Entry Challenges Retention Challenges
Shortage of Information Challenges
Transition Challenges
School entry School retention
Transition to Labor Market
20 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
The process of attracting students to the courses sponsored by government scholarships has posed a challenge to program managers, as they target an audience composed mostly by vulnerable population historically left out of the VET system. For this public, there is no tradition of commitment and placing value to education as, “many think that they will not be able to conclude the course, or that the course will not have an impact on their lives”7. In fact, research carried out by Trogiani et al., 2012, shows that the program in the city of Osasco (SP) faces issues attracting and retaining students committed to the courses. Local managers report that these challenges are mostly associated with the inadequacy of com-munication tools to advertise the courses and with the inability of the audience to recognize the potential impact of VET for obtaining better opportunities in the labor market.
4.2. Retention Challenges
An important concern related to VET in Brazil is school evasion. According to the Secretariat of Vocational and Technological Education, the official dropout rate of students enrolled in vocational courses through the PRONATEC was around 12.86% from 2011 to 2014. However, there are reasons to believe this number is greatly underestimated due to the lack of effec-tive government monitoring of private VET providers8.
A large portion of PRONATEC scholarships is paid by the government to the private institu-tions conditional on enrollment of selected vulnerable students. According to the Auditing Report (2014) of the Federal Auditing Institution and interviews with stakeholders, however, the government fails to monitor the attendance of sponsored students on privately provided courses due to the complexity of VET network of providers. Therefore, it fails to detect dropouts of initially enrolled students. By doing so, the government may be unaware of the actual number of beneficiaries, and hence is likely to waste resources by maintaining the transfers to private providers based solely on the number of initially, rather than currently, enrolled students.
Additional evidence on dropout rates of some private institutions corroborate the hypothesis that government-reported dropout rate is underestimated. For instance, Faculdade Sumaré, a private institution that offers technical courses in Information Technology sponsored by PRONATEC, declared a dropout rate of about 60% of sponsored students. This rate converges to the evidence of other private VET schools in which dropout rates vary between 45 and 60%9.
7 Information obtained from an interview granted to IPEA (2014) by the manager of SETEC.8 http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/politica/2014-10-19/dilma-nega-irregularidades-no-Pronatec-mas-diz-que-con-trole-deve-ser-aprimorado.html 2. Except for E-Tec Program, which has a highly developed M&E system. 9 The Schools cited are: Anhanguera, Pitágoras, Universidade de Cuiabá and Uniban. Source: http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/educacao/2014-09-02/cursos-tecnicos-pagos-por-governo-tem-eva-sao-de-ate-60-em-algumas-faculdades.html
21A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Moreover, a survey about professional education sponsored by the National Industry Confe-deration (CNI, in Portuguese) in 2013 reveals that, among technical course dropouts, 42% declared they failed to conclude the course because they could not afford it; 33% declared to have lost interest in the area; 31% had difficulties in reconciling work and study; and 29% were dissatisfied with the selected course.
According to the SENAI education manager, a potential explanation for the high droput rate is the low educational level of sponsored students. Since students often enroll in a course with little knowledge of its actual content, many give up when they learn its real compo-sition and requirements. Some schools even offer tutoring in Portuguese and Mathematics to help students follow the course content. However, some students had limited previous education; thus, providing tutoring is often not enough to keep them in the program.
Another potential explanation for school evasion, which is also a barrier for entering the VET program, is the rigidity of the curriculum for the technical degrees10. To enroll in a te-chnical secondary school, a student must either be enrolled in general education school or must have already completed it. Therefore, in order to obtain a secondary technical degree, students are required to complete the full curriculum of general secondary education at the same time as the entire technical curriculum. The workload of this effort may be prohibitive for most students.
4.3. Transition to Labor Market Challenges
After becoming a core public policy of the current government through PRONATEC, VET in Brazil has progressively been shaped up as a social policy with the utmost priority of provi-ding free of charge training to the poor. The VET system is supply driven, providing free trai-ning to vulnerable populations in skills that may not necessarily be demanded in the market. The result is that, after receiving sponsored training by the government, a portion of recent graduates from technical courses end up either employed at a total different profession, unemployed, or pursuing further university training perhaps due to the lack of good oppor-tunities in the market. This role detaches VET from its role as a sector that focuses on labor market and industry needs11 and may lead to misallocation of resources and deficit of skills.
In the report “Portrait of Brazilian Population: Professional Education”, CNI (2014) presents evidence that indicates this mismatch should indeed be a matter of concern (Figure 20). For a representative sample of the Brazilian population, 39% of people that graduated from a VET course declared they have never worked in the area of their professional training. For younger cohorts, this figure is even more critical – 58% of those between 16 to 24 years of age have never been employed in an area related to their technical training.
10 1. Schwartzman, 2013. Ensino, Formação Profissional e A Questão da Mão de Obra. 2. Observatório PNE – Educação profissional. http://www.observatoriodopne.org.br/metas-pne/11-educa cao-profissional11 http://www.ovale.com.br/vitrine-de-dilma-na-educac-o-Pronatec-ainda-patina-no-vale-1.555816.
22 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Figure 20. Performance of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the labor market. Percentage of answers of former VET students by age
Source: CNI, 2014.
Never worked in the same area of the VET doneNever in the same area of the VET done but not any moreWorks in the same area of the VET done
Total 16 - 24years old
25 - 34years old
35 - 44years old
45 - 54years old
More than 55years old
3958
19
22
26
35
39
25
35
29
27
44
30
27
42
25
42
34
According to Claudio de Moura Castro, a well-regarded VET specialist in Brazil, one of the fundamental flaws of PRONATEC is its conception. It does not follow the common rationale for professional qualification – identifying the demands first and then designing technical courses tailored to the needs of the local labor market. The Auditing Report of the Fede-ral Auditing Institution (2014) corroborates this perception indicating that the choices of courses supplied are made in a rather discretionary manner by course providers, regardless of the demands of the market and students. Such analysis is reinforced through the survey carried out by McKinsey & Company (2013) which shows a significant disconnection between the VET institutions and the employers. This evidence suggests a lack of communication between the stakeholders.
Although evidence suggests a mismatch between supply of courses and market demands, there are a few isolated initiatives in Brazil to identify market trends in demand for skills. The “S” System’s SENAI has created the Industry Work Map to help its regional departments determine which VET programs should be offered. Although developed by an institution that relies partially on public funding, this tool is not publicly available and hence not accessible most VET providers.
23A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
4.4. Shortage of Information Challenges
One of the main challenges related to VET in Brazil is the deficit of publicly available infor-mation. The shortage of information made available by government and providers may be explained mainly by three issues: i) lack of transparency; ii) lack of monitoring and evalua-tion mechanisms and iii) poorly designed communication schemes.
Raising data is a very arduous task. Information particularly difficult to obtain includes data related to the amount invested in each subprogram; the number of students that drop out; the distribution of enrollments by Brazilian states; student profiles and performance; and course quality.
The information restriction is remarkable since a very significant portion of VET in Brazil is sponsored by the government. This is especially of concern after the approval of the Access to Information Law12 in 2011. Lack of information not only restrains analysis and research but it also creates a barrier to access. It fails to provide information to the population on which they make their decisions, limiting access and retention in the Program.
As a result, it is a hard task to precisely analyze reality from a different perspective other than that presented by the government. Impact evaluations of VET on labor market out-comes, diagnostic studies, cost-benefit analysis and other studies are not possible in this scenario of limited information.
12 The Access to Information Law – Lei de Acesso à Informação (Lei nº 12.527/2011), states that any individual – pu-blic or private – should, without need of motive, have access to any and every public information of public entities (http://www.acessoainformacao.gov.br/assuntos/conheca-seu-direito/a-lei-de-acesso-a-informacao).
24 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
V. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSBrazil has experienced important changes in its education and training frameworks. The years of basic general education have been increasing and a higher percentage of the popu-lation is going to college. Also, the government has placed a higher importance on VET to increase the access to training for vulnerable groups.
However, Brazil faces various challenges concerning the entry and the retention of VET students, their transition into the labor market and the lack of information about students, courses and training institutions. Moreover, as part of the efforts to balance the fiscal spen-ding of the country, the total enrollments in PRONATEC courses were cut by one third in 2015.
According to Manpower, 60% of Brazilian employers reported difficulties in filling vacancies because of the lack of candidates with the right skills for the job (2014). An American emplo-yee, for example, is able to produce more than five times what a Brazilian worker does. The difficulties faced by employers in filling vacancies and the low labor productivity highlight the need to make important changes in VET. And, in a period of fiscal adjustment, Brazil needs to work harder to assure a better allocation of education and training resources.
The following policy recommendations can help to ensure that workers gain the right set of skills from the moment they join and attend VET programs to the moment they start earning their first job experience.
5.1. Develop an awareness campaign on the benefits of VET
Technical education provides options for learning an applied vocation and for keeping at-risk youth in school through the upper-secondary level; vocational training provides opportuni-ties to adapt a low-qualified or unqualified labor force, update obsolete skills, and prepare workers for new opportunities in new or fast-growing sectors (Silva, Almeida and Strokova, 2015).
However, increasing the interest in VET pathways is a very important challenge to overcome. VET programs face difficulties in attracting and retaining students from vulnerable groups. Lack of retention happens mostly because it is difficult for this group to value education since many do not see the connection between education and better work opportunities;
25A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
they may have difficulties in reconciling study and work; or find out the course was not what they were expecting.
In this sense, there should be an awareness campaign on wage returns and employability of VET pathways. The government should provide enough information to orient the choice of a technical or vocational training course and show that this can lead to a career where the worker will feel respectable, empowered and satisfied. This awareness campaign can incorporate: (1) job opportunities available, (2) potential income; (3) probability of being employed in their profession after graduation; and (4) employment duration. 5.2. Link Curriculum to the Needs of Employers
The education and training system should ensure sufficient supply of skilled workers to meet the needs of employers. The connection between skill strategy and government economic strategy can help maintain and increase productivity, which is crucial for facing economic crises and guaranteeing a sustainable economic growth with equal opportunities.
In order to link curriculum to key industry needs, it is necessary to strengthen institutions responsible for defining the curricula of the courses with deep involvement of the productive sector. This work should be done based on the results of workforce prospecting surveys such as the Mapa da Indústria13 from CNI. This Mapa da Indústria uses formal employment data released by the Ministry of Labor and the industrial survey conducted by CNI. Six hundred occupations are analyzed focusing on the industrial sector. The goal is to help the regional departments of SENAI to determine which courses should be offered through the profile and the number of workers that will be demanded in the years ahead.
The government should expand the creation of maps of the needs of employers to other sectors. Using administrative data, the Ministry of Labor can map the job opportunities that are being created and the skills that are required. It is important to work jointly with State and Municipal Labor Councils as they are closer to local companies and trade associations, and can cross-check the needs shown in the data with local knowledge.
5.3. Develop Strategies to Increase School Attainment
Many students fail to follow the content of specific courses because of the lack of adequate basic skills, such as Portuguese and Math. In 2014, according to the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 67.1% of Brazilian pupils aged 15 failed to address basic Math questions. Among the 65 countries surveyed, Brazil occupies the 58th position in Math, 55th in Language and 59th in Science.
13 The Industry Map. The map was created as a partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP), the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
26 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
In this sense, the policies of the government should aim at not only increasing school at-tainment but also improving the quality of basic education. The Youth and Adult Education14 program provides an opportunity to conclude basic education in a shorter period of time for people who have not completed the education corresponding to their age. Moreover, some offices of System of National Employment (SINE in Portuguese) offer basic skills courses to vulnerable groups. These tutoring classes can make it easier for this group to follow the content of training courses and should be stimulated.
5.4. Monitor the Students and the Training Institutions
Nowadays, there is no systematic monitoring of PRONATEC graduates and, thus, it is difficult to know whether graduates are employed, working in the area they were trained and what their current wage is. Following the students into the labor market enables the government to understand if the program is working or whether some adjustments need to be made.
The information collection can be disclosed by the training institution and course so the prospective students can guide their choices before enrollment. The information on the impact of the programs also works as signal for training institutions to update the content of the courses available or leave it as such.
An international comparison showed that policy makers are using several indicators systema-tically to measure training quality and labor market outcomes of graduates. These indicators include the proportion of trainees withholding jobs in the short- and mid-term as well as sustainability and quality measures of these jobs, such as wages, contract formality and non-wage benefits. These core indicators can be complemented by others; for instance, the perceptions of employers on the quality of trainees (Silva, Almeida, and Strokova, 2015).
5.5. Develop Mechanisms for Socio-Emotional Skills Training
The development of mechanisms for training in socio-emotional skills allow the country to develop features in workers that are required in all job opportunities, such as discipli-ne, punctuality, self-esteem and responsibility. There is evidence that these non-cognitive skills play an important role on the academic and job performance of graduates (Heckman, Stixrud and Urzúa, 2006; Bravo, Sanhueza, and Urzúa, 2008; Cunha et al., 2006).
While there is consensus that non-cognitive skills are essential for a good performance in the labor market and for a more effective following of training courses, there is the need to incorporate successful ways to teach such skills in the VET courses. In Rio de Janeiro, the Program Galpão Aplauso uses expressive arts and theater as a pedagogical and skill-building tool, which is used with other vocational and academic components. The program aims at
14 Educação de Jovens e Adultos.
27A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
improving the employability of youths by teaching basic, life and vocational skills as well as providing placement services. Although there is no evidence that socio-emotional traits were impacted by the program, youths with higher levels of socio-emotional skills did better in terms of labor market outcomes. This result is consistent with the literature that suggests that early development of socio-emotional skills may facilitate the development of cogniti-ve skills later in life, such as literacy and numeracy (Calero et al., 2015).
In the Dominican Republic, there is evidence that the strengthening of socio-emotional skills is a main component of the Youth and Employment Program. One out of every three hours of training (75 hours out of a total of 225) is dedicated to providing the participants with tools that help them not only to get a good job, but also to handle decisions beyond the workplace, like avoiding pregnancy at an early age. The program boosted the capacity of young women for leadership and their ability to set goals and persevere in attaining them. Most importantly, it had a clear impact on how they envisioned their future and how opti-mistic they were in their ability to change it. After participating in this program, there was a decrease of 20.0% in the probability of girls between 16 and 19 getting pregnant (Novella and Ripani, 2015).
The results of the impact evaluation point to a change in the expectations of participants thanks to a strengthening of their socio-emotional skills: greater self-esteem, improved ability to plan and take control of their future, and a better capacity for organization both outside and within their jobs (Novella and Ripani, 2015).
5.6. Provide on-the-job Training Opportunities
There are very limited forms of integrating work and learning in Brazil and the country needs to build bridges between VET and work. Partnerships between the government and the private sector to reinforce workplace opportunities are important to align the supply of technical vocational education and training courses with the quantity and quality of the skills demanded by the labor market and preferred by students. For the student, the wor-kplace provides a strong learning environment that makes it easier to acquire both hard and soft skills. It also facilitates a two-way flow of information between employers and potential employees, making recruitment more effective or less costly (Silva, Almeida, and Strokova, 2015).
Aside from the Apprentice Law, there is no comprehensive policy in Brazil to invest in this form of training, which is considered more effective than training in the classroom. There is evidence that the Apprentice Law increased the reserve wage or the demand for better qua-lity jobs of those learners. Young people spend more time looking for better opportunities and they end up finding them (Corseuil et al., 2014).
28 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
A model that could be adopted is one in which the training is carried out within the company and the costs are shared between the public and private sectors. It is up to the company to carry out practical training and the government finances the theoretical courses. The curriculum can be agreed on between employees and employers, which helps to strengthen working ties, reduce turnover and promote additional productivity gains. Industry and/or state pilots should be developed to generate knowledge that would allow the creation of a robust national work-in-place program.
The positive externalities are also shared between public and private sectors. For the go-vernment, more young people in school and in the labor market means lower incidence of social problems such as crime, involvement with drugs, early pregnancy, among others. For the productive sector, this strategy implies more skilled workers and, consequently, higher productivity.
29A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
VI. CONCLUSIONFor the past decade, Vocational Education and Training (VET) has gained an unprecedented relevance in Brazil. Both the investment from government and the enrollment of students have strongly increased over the past decade. In 2011, one of the most important programs of VET, the Programa Nacional de Acesso ao Ensino Técnico em Emprego - PRONATEC, was launched. In order to expand VET access, the program increased the number of VET institu-tions and the number of openings in courses. It also provided financial assistance to vulne-rable students. Besides its own programs, PRONATEC has a partnership with the S System, a program privately managed that receives public funds through taxes over firms’ payrolls. The S System is responsible for the provision of approximately 43% of qualification and te-chnical education in Brazil.
Empirical evidence on VET shows positive impact on individual income. Both Almeida et al. (2014) and Costa Lima, Fernandes and Vasconsellos (2010) found that the wages of those who underwent vocational secondary education are higher (9.8% and 12.5% respectively) than those with the equivalent general education level. Also, Assunção and Gonzaga (2010) identified a positive impact of qualification courses on earnings. Wages are 9.8% higher when compared to individuals with the same level of education. When decomposing the differen-tial by institutional nature, S System is associated with higher earnings (13.5%) than other private qualification programs (8.9%) and public institutions (5.9%). There are also regional differences, as the North and the Northeast present higher wage differentials than the other regions.
Finally, Oliva (2014) narrows the study to one educational center in Brazil, Centro Paula Souza (CPS), and finds that former CPS students face a higher probability of employment (3.47 percentage points), especially women (5.58 p.p), as well as an increase on formal em-ployment probability (2.7 p.p). CPS also has a positive impact on earnings (7.8 p.p), mainly on men (10.2 p.p).
It is important to notice that PRONATEC does not emphasize technical and vocational edu-cation as a means for supplying the market with the necessary skilled labor force. Its target is, instead, the promotion of social and productive inclusion, with Bolsa Formação (BF) as its main financing mechanism. Another innovation in VET in Brazil is the initiatives of the government to explore technology in training provision. Online learning is increasingly be-coming an important tool for the expansion of professional and technical education in Brazil
30 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
through E-Tec Network, which has the mission to expand the supply of free public technical distance-learning courses.
The challenges related to VET students and providers in Brazil are multidimensional and stretch over the entire student experience – from a student’s entry in a VET program to school retention and his/her transition to the labor market. Among the main challenges is the mismatch between supply and demand of professional skills. The VET system is mostly supply driven, providing skills that are not necessarily well regarded by the market. The result is that, after receiving sponsored training by the government, a portion of recent graduates from technical courses end up either employed at a total diff erent function from the one they were trained for, unemployed or required to pursue further university training due to the lack of good opportunities in the market.
In this context, Brazil needs to put into action a set of public policy recommendations that can help to improve VET framework in the country. In order to be eff ective, more than provi-ding training to vulnerable group, PRONATEC should link the curriculum of the courses to key industry needs, engaging actively the productive sector in defi ning the curricular structure. This engagement will make the transition of students into the labor market easier.
The country also needs to promote policies to stimulate on-the-job learning opportunities, establish a continuous monitoring of students and training institutions. This information will enable the government to assess if the courses are being eff ective and to verify and upda-te their content. This information can also be used to attract students to VET courses by showing them which courses lead to a higher probability of employment and salaries.
32 A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
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35A stocktake of vocational education and training cycle in Brazil
Websites
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http://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/glossario-legislativo/sistema-s
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http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/educacao/2014-09-02/cursos-tecnicos-pagos-por-gover-no-tem-evasao-de-ate-60-em-algumas-faculdades.html
http://www.observatoriodopne.org.br/metas-pne/11-educacao-profissional
http://www.ovale.com.br/vitrine-de-dilma-na-educac-o-Pronatec-ainda-patina-no-va-le-1.555816
http://Pronatec.mec.gov.br/
http://redefederal.mec.gov.br/
http://www.centropaulasouza.sp.gov.br/