10/10/2023 – 21:30
The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, suspended sections of an ordinance that established new internet speed parameters for public schools that exceed international standards. The decision was taken after the Estadão reveal that the new rule was only met, in the satellite market, by Starlink, owned by businessman Elon Musk.
The retreat was announced by the minister in a publication on X, formerly Twitter. According to Camilo Santana, the criteria will be reevaluated by the group created under the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to discuss the plan to connect all 138 thousand public schools.
“I determined the immediate suspension of the provisions of Ordinance No. 33, of August 7, 2023, of the Secretariat of Basic Education (SEB/MEC), referring to the technical speed criteria, for the purposes of reevaluating its terms by the Executive Committee of Enec ( National Strategy for Connected Schools)”, he wrote.
As revealed by the Estadão, the MEC parameters restricted the satellite internet market to Elon Musk and were not met even by the school connectivity program of Telebrás, the state-owned telecommunications company. Article 11 of the New Bidding Law provides that the bidding process needs to “ensure equal treatment between bidders, as well as fair competition”.
Two weeks ago, the MEC defended the change in the speed parameter that established a minimum speed level of 50 MBPS regardless of the number of students. The country has 23 thousand schools with less than 50 students. In a note to Estadão, said to follow what is recommended by GAP (Cost Monitoring Group for School Connectivity Projects). GAP, linked to Anatel, stated that “the measure was based on an analysis of the needs of schools, taking into account MEC studies”.
After the report from the Estadão, the minister changed his speech. He now states that his department defends “strict compliance with competitiveness standards and the adequacy of technical connectivity criteria for the development of pedagogical activities in Brazilian schools”. He also noted “the commitment of the Ministry of Education to the transparency and fairness of its processes”.
After the report, Camilo Santana was criticized on social media, mainly by left-wing groups and supporters of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The minister had already been the target of complaints after the Estadão reveal that the MEC’s entire school connectivity policy is influenced by a single NGO, MegaEdu, financed by the Lemann Foundation, owned by billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, which has business in the area of education. The department’s Secretary of Basic Education, Kátia Schweickardt, is a leader of the Lemann Foundation. Her name was removed from the Lemann Center specialists page after the Estadão consult the MEC about the link. It was Katia who took MegaEdu to work in the government.
Starlink arrived in Brazil through the hands of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). In May last year, then-president Jair Bolsonaro received Musk at a ceremony in the interior of São Paulo. The South African covets the billions of potential customers from large countries, such as Russia, China and India, which have so far not authorized its operation. Only Brazil offered the businessman a “red carpet”.
MEC imposed a higher speed than the United States
Since the ordinance published in August, the Ministry of Education has required a minimum speed of 50 megabits per second (mbps) for each school. The index is higher than the standards practiced in the United States and in some European countries, such as the United Kingdom. It is also above the United Nations target for all schools in the world by 2030. The ordinance was signed by the Secretary of Basic Education.
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