{"id":2685,"date":"2019-05-22T08:33:52","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T08:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/brazilian-researchers-and-students-protest-cuts-in-research-and-education-budget\/"},"modified":"2025-02-15T07:48:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T07:48:38","slug":"brazilian-researchers-and-students-protest-cuts-in-research-and-education-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/brazilian-researchers-and-students-protest-cuts-in-research-and-education-budget","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian researchers and students protest cuts in research and education budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of researchers, teachers, and students in Brazil rallied on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, to protest the freezing of research and educational funding. The nationwide demonstrations, which were organized by labor unions to protest the Brazilian President\u2019s proposed changes in the social security and pension system, were joined by representatives from private universities as well. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Brazil is making a slow recovery from a stagnant economy for over a decade now, which has resulted in the downsizing of science budgets<\/a> several times. However, what sparked the protests this time is the Brazilian government\u2019s decision to freeze part of the already allocated public education budget in order to resolve the country\u2019s ongoing financial crisis. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Education Minister Abraham Weintraub announced a 30% cut to the \u201cdiscretionary budget\u201d of federal universities, which involves spending on electricity, cleaning, maintenance, and utility bills. In response to this, Celso Napolitano, President of the Federation of Teachers of Sao Paulo (FEPESP), said: \u201cThe minister says the cuts only regard water and electricity bills, considered ‘non-mandatory’, but a university cannot run without water or light<\/a>.\u201d Heads of several institutions fear that the budget slash would hamper the functioning of universities and possibly bring it to a halt altogether.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from blocking the budget, the administration also suspended 3000 postgraduate research scholarships, reported Science<\/i><\/a>.<\/i> Elaborating on the effect of this move, Nathalie Cella, a biochemist at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, said that graduate students contribute to more than 90% of Brazil\u2019s scientific research and added that \u201ca lot of people will have to drop out of their research if this situation is not reversed.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to a decree published in the Federal Gazette on May 15, 2019, Bolsonaro\u2019s administration will now be able to control the selection of senior administrators in the federal university system, thus curbing the autonomy that educational institutions enjoy. Bolsonaro\u2019s decree has deepened the concerns of the academic community. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While Brazilian academics have witnessed budget cuts<\/a> several times in the past few years, it was President Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s \u201cscandalous\u201d policies and insensitive remarks that fuelled the people\u2019s frustration and resulted in a strong public reaction this time. According to reports, while dismissing the news of the rallies, the President called the student protestors \u201cuseful idiots\u201d and \u201cimbeciles.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On his part, Bolsonaro explained that the budget cuts were part of the bigger attempt to cut down the overall government spending and that \u201cthere is no way around it<\/a>.\u201d Testifying before the Congress, Weintraub said that \u201cthere are no cuts, only contingencies,\u201d and the funding could be restored “if the economy records any growth,” reported Al Jazeera<\/a><\/i>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How do you think Brazil\u2019s budget cut will affect the research community on the whole? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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