NEWS

Number of quota holders increases 91% in five years at Unicamp

The law of ethnic-racial quotas drastically changed the demographic profile of the academic population at Unicamp

authorship
Illustration
image editing

The law of ethnic-racial quotas (Law 12.711 / 12) – which is expected to undergo review in Congress in the second half of this year – drastically changed the demographic profile of the academic population at Unicamp. According to data from the Academic Board, the number of black, brown and indigenous students grew by 91% in the last five years at the University.

In 2017, when the law was implemented by the University Council (Consu), Unicamp registered the enrollment of 30.264 students in Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. Of these, 4.484 declared themselves black, mixed race and indigenous – equivalent to 14,8% of the total enrolled. In 2022, this group has 8.575 students – or 26,5% of the total enrolled.

 

In 2017, Unicamp approved mechanisms that made admission to its undergraduate courses more flexible, adopting an ethnic-racial quota system and the creation of the Indigenous Entrance Exam
In 2017, Unicamp approved mechanisms that made admission to its undergraduate courses more flexible, adopting an ethnic-racial quota system and the creation of the Indigenous Entrance Exam 

Indigenous students made up 0,22% of the total number enrolled at Unicamp in 2017. This year this group represents 1,2% of students. Self-declared blacks went from 2,84% five years ago to 5,84% now.

 

Candidates arrive for the 2022 Indigenous Entrance Examination exams
Candidates arrive for the 2022 Indigenous Entrance Examination exams

If only undergraduate enrollments are included, in 2017, this group occupied 17% of total vacancies. Today, the group represents 29,3% of the total.

The population of self-declared brown students grew by 76% in the five years. 3.560 people left in 2017, and now there are 6.301. Today, this portion of students is 19,49% of the total. Five years ago it was 11,76%.

The number of students who appear among the undeclared – who did not report color – has decreased significantly in the last five years. They went from 7.149 in 2017 to 3.396 now.

graphic 1graphic 2

graphic 3graphic 4

“The quota policy implemented by Unicamp is dynamic, as it allows, in the entrance exam, a candidate to compete for both quota and widely competitive places. It has proven to be a very important mechanism for the inclusion of young black people at university, especially those from public schools”, assesses professor Rafael Maia, research coordinator at the Commission for Unicamp Entrance Exams (Comvest). “Between 2016 and 2018, the years before the implementation of the policy, around 22% of young people declared themselves black or mixed race each year. In the following years, between 2019 and 2022, this percentage was above 28%, and in 2019 it reached the mark of 35% of entrants”, he says.

 

The quota policy has proven to be a very important mechanism for the inclusion of young black people at university, especially those from public schools. In the photo, students entering the Mathematics course at Unicamp in the last entrance exam
The quota policy has proven to be a very important mechanism for the inclusion of young black people at university, especially those from public schools. In the photo, students entering the Mathematics course at Unicamp in the last entrance exam

Permanence – For the dean of undergraduate studies, professor Ivan Toro, the inclusion process adopted by Unicamp has been very positive. However, according to him, there is no point in including students without a strong retention policy. “Inclusion only happens if we manage to keep the student here. Imagine how bad it could be if he finds himself forced to abandon the course a year or two later,” he asks. He remembers that the University offers housing, housing scholarships; social grants, food grants (or food subsidies), transport, work and, in some cases, computers or tablets for the most economically vulnerable students. Unicamp students also have access to health and psychological care services via SAPPE (Student Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Service). Also according to the dean, in 2022, Unicamp plans to invest R$101 million in inclusion policies.

A Quota Law was sanctioned in August 2012. It guarantees the reservation of 50% of enrollments per course and shift at federal universities and federal institutes of education, science and technology for students coming entirely from public secondary education, in regular courses or youth education and adults. “The quota policy is a success”, assesses Senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS), author of the project that gave rise to the Law and one of the few black senators in the country today. He recalls that, according to data from the Higher Education Census, in 1997, only 1,8% of black and mixed-race young people attended a higher education course in the country. “Between 2010 and 2019, the number of black students in higher education grew by almost 400% . Of the total enrolled, 38,15% are black”, he states. “But it is still a low rate for the black population, which corresponds to 56% of the Brazilian population, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)”, warns the senator.

Sanctioned in 2012, the Quota Law will undergo review this year in the National Congress
Sanctioned in 2012, the Quota Law will undergo review this year in the National Congress

This year the Quotas Law should undergo its first evaluation and at least 35 projects on the subject are being processed in Congress (House and Senate). One of the proposals envisages postponing the review for another ten years. Another project defends the reevaluation of the text only in 50 years. There are proposals for both expanding and reducing the scope of the policy, but there is also a project that foresees the pure and simple extinction of the system.

Paim is also the author of a bill that organizes the review of the Quota Law. In it, the evaluation must take place every ten years and, if the proportion of black, mixed-race and indigenous people at the university is lower than the proportion found in the population of the State where it is implemented, the quota policy is maintained until the next evaluation. If the proportion is in accordance with the State's ethnic-racial profile, the policy can be suspended after five years.

If the Law is not revised this year, it will not expire. However, Paim issues a warning: “Given the backward political scenario we are experiencing in Brazil, I recommend delaying any type of debate that would make it possible to change legislation,” he says.

Improvements - For the senator, despite being consolidated, the law needs improvements. Because of this, he presented a project that deals with student permanence, providing assistance to students in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability and, in view of this, defines rules for housing, food, transportation, health care and pedagogical support. The project also regulates the participation and learning of students with disabilities, global developmental disorders or those with high abilities and giftedness. At the moment, the proposal is in the Senate's Education, Culture and Sports Committee.

Quotas Festival - The São Paulo State Student Union (UEE) plans a series of activities from August onwards – upon return from the mid-year break – in defense of maintaining the Quotas Law. On August 13th, the “Festival das Quotas” takes place – with a series of debates about the system. The idea of ​​the festival is that, in addition to participating in discussions, quota students can exhibit work, publicize research, and present developed projects. “We want to showcase the work of these students, both university students and technical school students”, says UEE’s communications director, Vick Matos.

The program also includes presentations by artists and bands. The Festival will probably take place at Universidade Zumbi dos Palmares, in São Paulo, but UEE guarantees that there will be mobilization in favor of quotas at several other universities in São Paulo – including Unicamp.

JU-online cover image
Audio description: In a square at dusk, frontal image and at a close distance of 2 people sitting on a concrete bench, a man, on the left of the image, who has his arms resting on his legs, with hands clasped in front, and a woman with legs crossed on the bench, and arms resting on the legs, with hands clasped in front. Behind them are other benches and concrete tables with people sitting. Both wear a respiratory protection mask and a tank top. Image 1 of 1.

twitter_icofacebook_ico