University of São Paulo: USP working group will contribute to the improvement of educational public policies
The pandemic has accentuated the learning deficit and educational inequality across Brazil. In view of this, it has become essential to design and implement robust public policies in education, based on evidence. In order to collaborate with this demand from society, the Institute of Advanced Studies Polo Ribeirão Preto at USP created the Evidence in Public Educational Policies Working Group (EPPED) .
The initiative is one of the results of the work of the Sérgio Henrique Ferreira Chair , which since 2020 has been focused on improving learning and reducing educational inequalities in medium-sized cities and also in the metropolitan region of Ribeirão Preto. According to the chair’s holder, Professor Mozart Neves Ramos, the creation of the group is also aligned with the University’s potential to be a source for the improvement of public policies, a role that intensified during the pandemic.
“Recently, former dean Vahan Agopyan and professor Glauco Arbix published an article in the journal Advanced Studies highlighting that, during the health crisis, the research and actions produced by USP drew the attention of governments and the private sector and the University demonstrated its ability to recommend public policies based on scientific evidence based on the performance of its units and researchers. In other words, in addition to being a center for education, research, extension and innovation, it can effectively contribute to the evolution of these policies. It is in this sense that the GT will act”, he says.
The group’s activities will be developed along three axes: the expansion of scientific production applied to Basic Education with a focus on improving state educational policies, based on the metropolitan region of Ribeirão Preto; the engagement of researchers and students in the study, research and culture of evidence-based management practices; and the articulation between research groups and public administration.
The WG will last two years and will include, in addition to Mozart, the IEA-RP coordinator, Antonio José da Costa Filho; the members of the Efficiency Study Group of the Faculty of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirão Preto, USP Alexandre Pereira Salgado Junior and Perla Calil Pongeluppe Wadhy Rebehy; the coordinators of the Laboratory of Studies and Research in Social Economy at USP Daniel dos Santos and Luiz Guilherme Dácar da Silva Scorzafave; and the coordinator of the Center for Studies in Contemporary Public Policy and Management (GPublic) , Cláudia Passador. The group’s first meeting is scheduled for early May.