The right to education and its relationship with the enlargement of schooling in Brazil

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on the achievement of the right to education and its relation to the expansion of compulsory education in Brazil, evidenced from the extension of the elementary school from 8 to 9 years. Thus, an exhibition of the historic achievement of the right to education is made, seeking to demonstrate how this right has been legally secured. From the analysis of texts from both legal and educational area as well as legal documents, the text aims to highlight some achievements and limitations in the historical process of the schooling expansion in Brazil. At the end, it suggests the extension of compulsory schooling - elementary school, 9 years - as a breakthrough for the Brazilian educational reality, warning to the limits that the proposal may develop if done without the commitment to ensure respect for childhood and education as a citizenship right.

Right to education; History of the right to education; Extension of compulsory education; 9-year basic education