Data from the latest IBGE census and the INEP higher education census, made public last year, highlighted the growth of 374% of the number of indigenous students in higher education in the country. In a temporal comparison, it was shown that between 2011 and 2021 the number of indigenous enrollments increased from 9.764 to 46.252.
These data should be celebrated, as they reflect the outcome of changes in higher education admission policies adopted over the last two decades by state and federal universities, as well as private institutions. It is essential to clarify that these changes resulted from the struggle and demands of Black and Indigenous social movements, representing historically excluded segments of the population in Brazil. Therefore, these policies stem from the organization and articulation of a portion of the population that, until recently, was not covered by specific legislation and public policies aimed at protecting their rights. As instruments of historical reparation, these policies contribute to the construction of social justice in our country.
In this context, Law 12.711/2012, known as the "Quota Law," stands out, prescribing the reservation of places in federal higher education institutions for specific social segments, such as indigenous peoples. This can be understood as a milestone in the consolidation of rights related to education, as it serves as a benchmark for the construction of other specific policies developed in different university settings.
Although we have much to celebrate, there are also many challenges to such a relevant dimension as access to higher education institutions for indigenous students. The Indigenous Program for Permanence and Opportunities at the University (PIPOU), conceived and implemented by the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), has identified some of these: financial difficulties; lack of specific welcoming and academic support strategies for a multilingual population; distance from their territories and relatives; emotional challenges related to homesickness; adaptation to very different sociocultural contexts; and exposure to explicit manifestations of prejudice and racism, among others.
In general, based on the analyses that the Program has been developing, the dropout rates of indigenous students remain very high, the causes of which seem to reveal, to a considerable extent, the ingrained racism structural issue present in some academic spaces, as well as in Brazilian society as a whole.
Much remains to be built and deconstructed, especially when faced with the complexity of recognizing Indigenous peoples as citizens capable of navigating between two worlds—that of Indigenous territory and that of higher education institutions—without losing their identities and knowledge. Many questions arise in this regard, and the lack of information among a large part of the population about the lifestyles and sciences of Indigenous peoples leads to the formulation of ideas and practices. prejudiced, which need to be combated through broad social dialogue.
This social dialogue must include the voices of Indigenous students who, in this process of entering higher education, have been organizing themselves into collectives at the local and national levels. National Meeting of Indigenous Students (ENEI) It is the largest of these organizations, having held its first edition in 2013.
The next ENEI will take place from August 12th to 16th at the University of Brasília, and will continue the discussions from previous editions, such as access to and retention in higher education, access to healthcare, indigenous rights, and indigenous scientific research. Currently, the main demand of the indigenous student movement is to make the Student Support Program, from the Ministry of Education, a state public policy.
It is noted that the challenges to completing courses for indigenous students are numerous and that it will only be possible to overcome them with the expansion of affirmative action programs in education that take into account the specific contexts of indigenous peoples.
Initiatives like PIPOU, initially funded by Vale and currently supported by other institutions, help indigenous people who want to pursue higher education. The program's current 100 scholarship recipients, located in 19 higher education institutions across different regions, receive a monthly stipend of R$1,2 and a laptop, and participate in academic writing and political training activities.
PIPOU represents a civil society effort that complements that of the indigenous movement for the effective expansion of indigenous presence in higher education. May programs like this serve as inspiration for the development of other initiatives and, above all, for broad public policies that promote the full retention of indigenous students in higher education, helping them to overcome the challenges of their academic journeys with support and a listening ear.
Article published in the Correio Braziliense newspaper on March 3, 2024. See here.