The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

28 TheAmericas TheEconomistDecember18th 2021

Portugueseforallgrades.Teachersearnbo­

nusesiftheirpupilshitminimumtargets.

Lessonplanspumpedoutbythecityen­

surethatnoteacherneedstarta classun­

prepared.Every teacher spendsa day a

monthintraining.

Not much of what Sobral has done

wouldsurprisereformersinrichercoun­

tries, says ClaudiaCostin, an academic

whousedto runRiode Janeiro’sschool

system.But that isnot thepoint. “The

beautyofSobral”,saysMsCruzofAllfor

Education,“is thatthey dothe obvious

thingsverywell.” Thecityhasadogged

willingnesstoimplement“whattheevi­

dencesaysworks”.

WhatmakesSobral’sstorymostcom­

pellingisthatithastouchedoffimprove­

mentsallacrossCeará.In 2006 bigwigs

fromthecitywereelectedtorunthestate

government. They, in turn, gave cities

morepowertoruntheirownschools.They

alsointroduceda statewideliteracytestfor

eight­year­olds,andincreasedtheamount

oftrainingandflowofmaterialstoteach­

ers.Mostnotably,theymadea bitofthe

moneyeachcitygetsfromthestatedepen­

denton improving school results. That

givesmayorsamplereasonto putsmart

typesinchargeofschools,andgivesother

officials cause to help local education

chiefssucceed.

Nostatehasseenschoolresultsriseas

fastasCearásincerigorouscomparisons

beganin2005.Thelatestdata,from2019,

sawseverallocalcitiessurgeupa national

ranking,evenasscoresinSobralitselffell

slightly. Twelve Cearan school systems

rankedamongBrazil’s 20 best(judgedby

theperformanceofprimaryschools).So­

bralslippedfromthetopspot,afterfour

yearsoftriumph.Thataccoladewentin­

steadtoMucambo,lessthananhourdown

theroad.Curiously,townsandcitiesthat

liejustacrossCeará’sborderswithother

stateshavealsobeencreepinguptherank­

ings,notesDanielSantosattheUniversity

ofSãoPaulo.

Newfrontiersbeckon.In 2018 VeveuAr­

ruda,whoservedasSobral’smayorfrom

2011 to2016,setupanorganisation—sup­

portedbytheLemannFoundation,abig

charity,amongothers—thataimstohelp

governments elsewhere in Brazil mimic

someoftheregion’sreforms.Oneofits

programmes involvesoffering advice to

governorsintenofBrazil’s 27 states.An­

other,whichprovidesmorehands­onhelp

tomunicipalgovernments,willsoonex­

pandtoaround 50 cities.

Not everyone thinks formulae from

Brazil’snorth­eastaresuretohelpschools

inotherregions.Sobralhasprobablybene­

fitedfromitsunusuallystablepolitics.The

samepoliticalcliquehasruncityhallfor 25

years.Theyhavekepteducationa priority.

ThecitiesworkingwithMrArrudaaread­

visedtoselectstrategiestheythinkbestfit

localconditions.Oneimportantthing,he

says,istocastoffa mindsetthat“poorchil­

drencannotlearn”.InSobralandtherestof

Cearáthatmeantdisregardingwell­mean­

ingobserverswhosaidthatdisadvantaged

childrenwereboundtolagatschoolunless

officialsfirstresolvedstubborn inequal­

itiesinincome.

ForallthateducationisprizedinSo­

bral,itsperformanceduringthepandemic

hasnotbeenglorious.Localleaderschose

tokeepschoolbuildingsclosedforjustas

longasdidofficialsinmuchworse­run

bitsofBrazil.“Wewerescared,”admitsIvo

Gomes,themayorsince2017.Pupilsmade

lessprogressthanusualwhilelearningon­

lineandfromworksheets,saysHerbertLi­

ma,thecity’seducationsecretary.Buthe

insiststhedeficitsarenotasdeepasthose

emerginginmanyothercities,andthatve­

ryfewpupilshavedroppedout.Sobral’s

schoolsarefarbetterpreparedthanmost

inBraziltorescuepupilswholagbehind

theirgrade.“Iknowtheycancatchup,”

saysthemayor,“becauseI haveseenthem

doit before.” n

Top of the class

Brazil, by municipality

Source:WorldBank

*IDEBscoreinprimary education

†Constant 2017 prices

1007550250 125

Cumulativespendingperpupil†

2013-17,reais,’000

Quality of education*

201, 10=highest

10

8

6

4

2

São Paulo

Sobral, Ceará

Ceará state Others

Rio de Janeiro

A

formercentre-leftpresident,

Michelle Bachelet, once belittled his

party. Yet Gabriel Boric, a 35­year­old

former student­protest leader, has a good

shot at being Chile’s next president. He

made a name for himself railing against

Chile’s highly successful economic sys­

tem and criticising the centrist parties

that have governed the country for most

of the time since Augusto Pinochet’s

dictatorship ended in 1990.

Now Mr Boric, whose radical coalition

includes communists, is leading opinion

polls ahead of the second round of a

presidential ballot set for December 19th.

After narrowly losing the first round last

month to a hard­right candidate, José

Antonio Kast, Mr Boric has turned to­

wards the centre to broaden his appeal.

He wrote to the Christian Democrats

asking forgiveness for his party’s “gener­

ational arrogance”. They endorsed him.

Ms Bachelet followed on December 14th.

Mr Boric has also invited centre­left

economists to evaluate his economic

programme. He now says he will raise

taxes by a whopping 5% of gdpin four

years, an initial step in his plan to raise

them by a crushing 8% in six to eight

years. His overhaul of pensions will be

implemented gradually (details remain

vague). He promises to stick to fiscal

consolidation and to stabilise public

debt. Earlier, he scrapped a requirement

for workers to occupy half the seats on

corporate boards.

Criticsdismissthesechangesas

cosmetic. Mr Boric still proposes to

abolish private pension funds, forgive

student debt, shorten the working week,

raise the minimum wage by half, in­

crease the state’s role in areas such as

telecoms and energy, and reserve at least

1% of government jobs for trans people.

Economists fear that introducing all

these measures together will harm

growth. Ignacio Walker, a former leader

of the Christian Democrats, also worries

that Mr Boric may not be able to restrain

his more radical left­wing allies. 

Still, Mr Boric appears to be convinc­

ing more voters of his moderation than

Mr Kast, a conservative Catholic who

defends Pinochet and opposes abortion

and same­sex marriage (which was legal­

ised in Chile on December 9th). Mr Kast

once proposed to eliminate the women’s

ministry and close the National Institute

for Human Rights; now he promises to

“strengthen” the former and “profoundly

reform” the latter. His critics decry the

fact that Mr Kast’s late father, a German

soldier, joined the Nazi party in 1942. 

The election remains wide open. A

quarter of voters are undecided. Who­

ever wins will struggle to pass sweeping

reforms: Chile’s Congress is divided and

the country is in the process of rewriting

its constitution, which could limit the

powers of the executive. Mr Boric may

soon learn that it is easier to protest than

to govern.

Chile’spresidentialcontest

Curb your extremism

As a run­off nears, candidates are moderating their radical platforms