After 23 days of protests, Indigenous groups and teachers in the Brazilian state of Pará have successfully pressured Governor Helder Barbalho to revoke a controversial education law that favored online learning in remote communities and slashed benefits for teachers.
The protests erupted in the state capital Belém, host city of the next U.N. climate summit, COP30. Opponents say the state law, known by its number 10.820, would be a huge setback for rural and Indigenous education. On Jan. 13, hundreds of protesters occupied the Pará Secretariat of Education building. On Jan. 23, the teachers’ union went on strike.
“The governor eliminated the only legislation in Pará that supported Indigenous education. That was our biggest concern,” said Mauricio Terena, a lawyer with the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), who helped file a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the law’s constitutionality.
According to Indigenous leaders and the local teachers’ union, the law eliminated the existing education framework, cut teachers’ incomes, including a transportation allowance for teachers to reach remote communities. It would also dismantle the state’s Modular Education System, which allows rural students to learn high school subjects in intensive blocks, reducing the need for teachers to live year-round in remote areas.
Protesters said the law opened the door for replacing in-person high schools with online education, a claim the state government has denied.
“It is very important for us to clarify that at no time was the possibility of ending in-person education discussed or considered.” Barbalho said at a press statement on Jan. 27, after weeks of protests.
However, in May 2024, the state signed a 71.4 million reais ($12 million) contract with Starlink’s subsidiary in Brazil for 1,650 terminals, stating on page 63 of the document its objective of “serving students who have completed elementary school in isolated, remote, and rural communities where the state education network is unavailable or where demand exceeds the number of available spots.” The law was rushed through the state legislature in late December, with just three days between its introduction and the governor’s approval. Teachers were barred from entering the legislative building during the process and were met with police violence.
“We want technology in schools, we want connectivity, but as a tool to support teaching, not to replace teachers,” Beto Andrade, state coordinator of the Union of Public Education Workers of Pará state, told Mongabay by phone.
“The government tried to quietly eliminate Indigenous secondary education by blocking first-year enrollment. Without new students, in three years, the program would disappear. They deny it now, but that was the plan,” Andrade added.
Banner image: Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku celebrates after the governor signed an agreement to revoke the law on Feb. 5. Image courtesy of Marcos Santos/Agência Pará.
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