海角大神

At midday, the long, narrow hallway of Marechal Alcides Etchegoyen school in Rio de Janeiro floods with students and instructors jockeying for space. A gaggle of 13-year-old girls sporting bubble gum-pink lipstick and matching side-swept bangs surges toward the front door, a poster reading 鈥渒nowledge is power鈥� fluttering in their wake.

On the surface, this scene could be from a school in Miami or Lisbon. But it鈥檚 not yet noon and these students are finished for the day. Some teachers, just done with five morning classes, are dashing off to repeat the effort in afternoon shifts at other public schools.

Brazil鈥檚 economy and its schools are getting precariously out of alignment. The country has boomed its way to becoming the world鈥檚 seventh largest economy. Household incomes have grown by a third over the past decade. Though it鈥檚 an upper-middle-income country on par with Turkey, the quality of its primary schools ranks below the likes of impoverished Madagascar and Haiti.

Brazil has a highly educated upper class and boasts some of the best public universities in Latin America. Yet school more broadly does not hold a treasured place here. Most students attend class for only four hours a day. Making kids repeat grades is a common teaching tactic, and teacher training lags behind international standards. Teachers often rush from one school to another to cobble together a full-time job.

Indeed, many teachers and politicians have long held the view that all Brazilians didn鈥檛 need or weren鈥檛 entitled to an education, says Barbara Bruns, an education economist at the World Bank.

Even former President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva, who only completed fourth grade and called the presidency his 鈥渇irst degree,鈥� was prone to bragging about his lack of schooling.

The idea that education can open doors to a better future 鈥渋sn鈥檛 a historically Brazilian story line,鈥� says Jos茅 M谩rcio Camargo, a labor economist and professor at the Pontif铆cia Universidade Cat贸lica in Rio de Janeiro.

But it鈥檚 a mind-set this South American country of nearly 200 million people desperately needs to emphasize, experts say. Brazil鈥檚 rapid growth is slowing 鈥� and the global economy is becoming more integrated. Brazilians are talking about the need for a workforce with 鈥�21st-century鈥� skills.

Yet even as the steady drumbeat about the world鈥檚 emerging 鈥渒nowledge-based economy鈥� has driven efforts to improve education in rich and poor nations alike, Brazil has lagged behind. Improvement, many here say, could ultimately rest on whether the country can create the same sense of urgency around education that it has in driving its economy forward.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have time to be slow and incremental. We don鈥檛 have this right, because if I鈥檓 telling this generation of students 鈥榳ait 16 years, you will then have a better education,鈥� it鈥檚 a calamity,鈥� says Claudia Costin, on her last day as the city of Rio鈥檚 secretary of education, a post she鈥檚 held for the past five years.

'Good schools for everyone'

For decades, Brazilians undervalued universal education. Ms. Costin points to historical events such as Brazil鈥檚 late abolishment of slavery 鈥� more than two decades after the United States 鈥� and its 20-year dictatorship as contributing factors.

鈥淲hen we ended slavery [in 1888], almost immediately the previous slaves became the poor of this country,鈥� Costin says. The government 鈥渄idn鈥檛 believe at that time that education was important, and we didn鈥檛 have an organized civil society to at least think about good schools for everyone,鈥� she says.

By 1930, only 21.5 percent of children were enrolled in primary school, a rate about one-third that of neighboring Argentina and Chile.

鈥淔or many years poor people in Brazil had the idea drummed into them that they weren鈥檛 competent to get educated. And that they didn鈥檛 have the right to expect [it],鈥� Ms. Bruns says. She remembers visiting classrooms in the 1980s and having teachers tell her things like 鈥淛o茫o doesn鈥檛 belong in school. His dad is in prison.鈥�

鈥淭he teachers would say these things in earshot of the kids, and it reflected this elitist mentality,鈥� she says.

Even today, while foundations, teachers, and education officials are pushing more aggressively for improved standards, there isn鈥檛 a widespread movement for change. Protests against World Cup spending have touched on education, but so far have stopped there.

That鈥檚 left the ability to adapt in the hands of those with means. Families that can afford to often move their child to private school. 鈥淭he way the middle class expresses its demand for higher quality education is to opt out鈥� of the public system entirely, Bruns says.

鈥淧arents and kids are not as forceful as they have a right to be in demanding that education serve them,鈥� she says.

Passing 'easily'

Rosangela Rosa, a mother of three, is trying to change that mind-set in her household, with varying degrees of success. Ms. Rosa studied until the fifth grade, and was held back at least twice, quitting at age 14. This was typical for her generation: In 1993, around the time she entered the labor force, about 70 percent of workers had not completed high school. A child whose parents hadn鈥檛 gone to school, like hers, on average finished four years of schooling.

鈥淢y mother didn鈥檛 insist I return to study,鈥� says Rosa, who works at a hospital lactation center. 鈥淚 want my daughters to go to college.鈥�

Rosa鈥檚 eldest daughter graduated high school and wants to go to technical school, but can鈥檛 afford it. Her middle child dropped out after sixth grade. When she became pregnant this year, her plans for night school went on hold. Rosa鈥檚 youngest is enrolled at Marechal, just a short walk from their home in the low-income favela, or shantytown, Vila Kennedy.

Marechal was not Rosa鈥檚 first choice: It鈥檚 rowdy, and most kids aren鈥檛 invested in learning, something she attributes to the 鈥渁ttitudes鈥� of other parents more than the staff. And she鈥檚 disappointed by the standards: 鈥淵ou pass easily. My daughter doesn鈥檛 always have homework. It鈥檚 just not demanding,鈥� Rosa laments.

In the 1990s, then-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso targeted both education resources and attitudes by launching a number of education initiatives. The creation of Bolsa Escola 鈥� the predecessor of Bolsa Familia, a conditional cash transfer program that gives families a small monthly payment in exchange for sending kids to school and keeping up with vaccinations 鈥� shifted the calculus for poor families when it came to deciding whether to send kids to class or put them to work. The government distributed federal funds more equitably to public schools and encouraged local officials to get kids into class through per capita supplemental spending.

Since 1993, the number of students who have completed primary school has gone up almost 30 percentage points, to 71 percent, according to the National Institute for Education Studies and Research. Those who started primary school over the past 15 years have also been more likely to continue with their schooling. In the same period, Brazil increased education spending as a percentage of gross domestic product by 1.8 percent, reaching 5.8 percent in 2010, according to United Nations data.

Many laud the progress, and note that Brazil 鈥� with its oil fields, agriculture expertise that it exports, and firms such as aircraft manufacturer Embraer or mining giant Vale 鈥� has done fine in terms of providing the workers the country needs to keep major employers humming. But people are worried as they look ahead.

鈥淭here is a feeling emerging that if we don鈥檛 improve education, we won鈥檛 be competitive,鈥� says Mr. Camargo. 鈥淭hat could force businesses and the government to change priorities for a more productive future.鈥�

Sixty percent of the labor force now has a high school degree, according to the World Bank. But while scores on international tests like the Program for International Student Assessment have improved since Bras铆lia first participated in 2000, Latin America鈥檚 largest economy ranks near the bottom of the pack overall: 58th out of 65 nations tested in 2012. And higher enrollment and graduation rates haven鈥檛 necessarily translated to quality education.

鈥淲e have the kids finally at school, but they are not learning,鈥� says Costin.

'Plan-doing'

But those active in the education movement have hope. According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 64 percent of Brazilians consider school quality 鈥渁 very big problem.鈥� And thanks to the decentralized system 鈥� typically, municipalities run preschool through the ninth grade, states are in charge of high schools, and the federal government administers public universities 鈥� educators, policymakers, and foundations have the opportunity to experiment.

Sitting in a cramped office at the Bolivar municipal school in Rio de Janeiro鈥檚 working-class north zone, principal Jacira Fontes Cerqueira points to a large piece of paper hanging on the wall, covered in scribbled verses. It鈥檚 a rap one of her former students wrote and dedicated to her. The young man was, by all stereotypes, bound to fail: a poor family, a bad neighborhood, an alcoholic dad.

But now he goes to the prestigious State University of Rio de Janeiro. Ms. Cerqueira says he got there because Bolivar 鈥渁llowed him to dream.鈥�

Bolivar is one of 165 eight-hour schools in the city of Rio (out of 1,004 municipal schools), a relatively recent initiative. Most public 鈥� and many private 鈥� schools hold two to three shifts of four hours each.

鈥淭he most promising thing I see is the degree of innovation at the state and municipal levels,鈥� says Bruns. 鈥淭here are strong incentives to improve the system ... and they are looking over each other鈥檚 shoulders and copying good ideas.鈥�

Cities and states are also testing new approaches: having teachers give mock lessons during the hiring process; creating tools such as Rio鈥檚 online 鈥淓ducopedia,鈥� to help with teaching a wide range of students in the same class; or creating pay incentives for teachers. Thousands of new programs are created each year, according to the World Bank.

鈥淲e invented the term 鈥榩lan-doing.鈥� We plan a little bit and we immediately have to start doing, even if you have to correct the route in the process,鈥� Costin says.

Instead of creating education policy the 鈥渢raditional鈥� way 鈥� with heavyweights discussing pedagogical pros and cons for years before acting 鈥� her method was much more ad hoc.

鈥淵es, solid change in education takes decades, but we need to start doing the right things fast,鈥� says Costin. 鈥淚t has to be incremental, but not as slow as some would think.鈥�

Whitney Eulich reported from Brazil as a fellow with the .聽Taylor Barnes contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.