Discussing the contributions of the pedagogical principles of Paulo Freire and the "financialization" of the private education sector

Abstract

In the census of 2008, the Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educativas Anísio Teixeira [National Institute for Educational Studies and Research) appreciates that from a total of 60 million basic education students nearly 6 million entered college education, and from these about one million and five hundred thousand are studying in public institutions while almost 4 million and a half are in private institutions, in both presence-based and distance modes. The higher education degree is estimated in 90% of private institutions and in 10% of public institutions. The law Nr. 9394/96 called Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional [Law of Directives and Principles of the National Education] does not hinder the private sector. Art. 209 of the National Constitution of 1988 states that the private sector is allowed to operate in the educational area as long as authorization and quality appreciation have been duly observed. A tendentious interpretation would lead to the assertion that all of the private institutions have a mercantilist mission and that their only aim would be to find financial reward. This study however refers only to the growth in offering education by groups that operate with market transactions and that expand through buying universities or smaller college departments in order to achieve profitable activities in this sector. Financialization is giving shape to educational processes, raising the question if this is the education we want to have. The bibliographic reference procedure allows us to establish relationships and understand the educational changes that occurred in the last five years of broad financialization. In this study these questions are being discussed, as well as some experiences of higher education distance learning [DL] and the virtualization of college education, which can become one of the tendencies of this process for which we lay claim to some of the pedagogical principles of Paulo Freire.