A Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) promoted on December 10th, at its headquarters in São Paulo, the debate "Quality and expansion of access to Higher Education". The objective was to raise proposals to face the challenge of increasing the number of places in public universities, without losing the excellence achieved.

Representatives of some of the country's main educational institutions participated in the discussions, including Unicamp, SBPC itself and the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp). At the end of the meeting, it was decided that SBPC will prepare a document bringing together the main suggestions and forward it, from the beginning of next year, to public authorities in addition to bringing it to the attention of public opinion.

According to the president of SPBC, Glaci Zancan, the entity decided to promote the debate in an attempt to encourage the adoption of measures that promote the expansion and democratization of access to public universities. "This topic will certainly be on the agenda of both academia and public managers in 2003. We want to contribute with concrete proposals to try to overcome this challenge," she stated.

The rector of Unicamp, professor Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, reminded those present that currently only 16% of young people of university age (aged 18 to 24) are actually enrolled in a Brazilian higher education institution. For the country to reach rates similar to those achieved by developed nations, this number would have to be tripled.

Brito Cruz said that this level cannot be reached just by expanding the educational system already in place. "We need bolder action," he said. According to him, any plan that simply intends to reproduce existing models, such as USP, Unesp and Unicamp, will also be doomed to failure. “No country in the world has done this,” he clarified.

The rector of Unicamp emphasized the need to address the issue of expanding higher education in Brazil from a strategic point of view, in addition to the topical measures of each institution. In this sense, Brito defends the elaboration of a master plan with a medium and long-term horizon of actions - "possibly 15 years" - capable of originating "state policies" instead of traditional "government policies". This is the line of action that the rectors of the three public universities in São Paulo presented to the State government and which was approved by the Department of Science and Technology. "Such a plan, to gain the legitimacy necessary for its permanence and success, needs to be drawn up in common agreement between the universities, the executive branch and the legislative branch," he added.

The rector highlighted some initiatives that are being taken to expand and democratize access to São Paulo's state universities, such as the provision of a budget of around R$60 million, referring to the 2003 State budget, to be applied for this purpose. "It's an important action, but it needs to be accompanied by others with no less impact", he insisted. Brito recalled that in the Unicamp entrance exam, historically, 30% of candidates come from public schools and that this percentage is reproduced among those approved.

The rector of the University of Brasília (UnB), professor Lauro Morhy, highlighted the need to adopt in Brazil a type of "national emergency plan" in the area of ​​education. According to him, federal universities are going through a situation of scarcity, with a lack of resources and personnel. "It is not possible to think about expanding a structure that is already completely deficient. If we are no longer able to meet the current demand well, how can we serve more students?", he asked.