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Distance learning is responsible for the increase in students in Higher Education, says Inep

The enrollment of students in undergraduate courses in distance learning (EAD) grew in 2021, while in the face-to-face modality, in the same period, it showed a drop. This is what the result of the Census of Higher Education 2021 reveals, released by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep) and the Ministry of Education (MEC), this Friday (4).

Last year, nearly 4 million students entered undergraduate courses. The number represents an increase of 4.8% compared to 2020. According to Inep, the increase in the number of entrants in this period was caused exclusively by the distance modality, which had a positive variation of 23.3%. In face-to-face courses, there was a decrease of -16.5%.

When analyzing the period between 2011 and 2021, the number of admissions varied negatively in face-to-face undergraduate courses. In distance courses, it increased by 474.0%. According to the Institute, the percentage participation of students in distance undergraduate courses in 2011 was 18.4%. In 2021, that number was 62.8%.

“It is an inexorable trend, it [modalidade à distância] is consolidating here as the teaching modality that is prevailing in the expansion of higher education in Brazil”, evaluated the president of Inep, Carlos Eduardo Moreno Sampaio, during a press conference to publicize the Census.

The president of Inep also estimates that there are positive aspects in the expansion of distance education, such as the increase in the number of students in undergraduate courses and the possibility of expanding higher education in the country. “Even under an extremely delicate context, the pandemic made us consolidate the understanding that distance education can be efficient, as long as it is of quality”, he said.

On the other hand, Moreno stressed that supervision, regulation and evaluation “become essential to induce the improvement of courses”, he said. “It is a very propitious moment for this reflection, considering the diagnosis presented by the census”, he added.

Profile of undergraduate students

The results of the Higher Education Census also demonstrate that the typical student of in-person and distance undergraduate courses attends the academic degree of baccalaureate. In both types of education (face-to-face and distance learning), most students are women. In addition, the night shift is the one with the most students in on-campus undergraduate courses.

According to Inep, there were 2,574 Higher Education Institutions in Brazil in 2021, of which 76.9% were colleges. Of these, more than 86% are private. In this context, the private network offered 96.4% of the vacancies. The public network was responsible for 3.6% of the offers. The number of enrollments also followed the growth trend of recent years and reached more than 8.9 million.

In Brazil, in face-to-face courses, there are almost 2 students enrolled in the private network for every student enrolled in the public network. Only in Alagoas, Acre and Mato Grosso do Sul, the number of enrollments in the public network is the same as in the private network. On the other hand, São Paulo, Rondônia, Distrito Federal, Santa Catarina, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro have a higher proportion of students in on-site undergraduate courses in the private network than the Brazilian average, while Goiás and Minas Gerais have the same ratio as the Brazilian average. On the other hand, in Roraima, Paraíba, Amapá, Tocantins and Rio Grande do Norte there are more students enrolled in the public network.

* Under supervision of Leonardo Ribbeiro

Source: CNN Brasil

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