Public university and cultural identity

Abstract

Praise is bestowed on the attitude of lectures in defense of the public universities and emphasis is given to the role these universities play in shaping our cultural identities as a people. We analyse the pressure by the IMF to make public universities charge fees, and the danger that this may happen vis a vis the statements by the Minister of Education. We summarize the pressure exerted by the World Commerce Organization on industrial and commercial sectors, and for the privatization of teaching seen as a commodity. We describe UNESCO's concern about this pressure. We analyse the growth of the private universities in Brazilian higher education, with its ever commercial character, and the difference in the mentalities cultivated there relative to that in the public universities.