I’m also a foreigner living in Brazil, and my son went to a private school in Vitória until he finished Ensino Médio at 17. We had his diploma evaluated for the Dutch education system, and together with his TOEIC results, he was able to study at the same Dutch university I attended.

I think Brazil has an excellent private education system, while growing up here also gives children a wonderful experience. It’s important, however, to keep speaking and teaching your original language at home. In our case, that was Dutch, which made it much easier for him to integrate into the Netherlands and keep Europe as an option for his further education.

Brazil has very different realities from city to city and from state to state. There are generally three types of schools in Brazil: municipal, state-run, and private. I know some public schools that are really well maintained, whereas others are chaotic and unsafe. You need to choose wisely and be lucky enough to live near a good public school.

Schools in Brazil are a 50/50, you either find a horrible school that will teach almost nothing or a good school.

Estudei no Brasil e nos EUA.  Quando fui fazer high school nos EUA, em uma das melhores escolas públicas de lá, o nível nas aulas de algebra era dois ou três anos mais atrasado do que tinha estudado em escola privada no Brasil (o mesmo valia para todas as ciências).

My daughter also went from Swedish to Brazilian school. It’s a huge difference. The physical structure of the Swedish school was better than her private Brasilian one, but she finds the education in Brazil much better and much less bulling. The rules in Brasil are much more strict against bullies than our experience in Sweden. Which makes her feel much safer here than back home. She does miss “syslöjd ” (sawing), but prefere the shorter school days. In Sweden she attended both private (Waldorf) and public schools. There was a lot of bullying in both of them, which made school an living hell for her. She is autistic and has very High Iq. But in Sweden they only adapted for her difficulties and didn’t give any thought whatsoever to her higher abilities. In her brasilian school, they adapted for both strengths and difficulties. Which is making her expand her strengths in ways I never thought was possible in Sweden.

Just a quick correction about ENEM:

It’s actually the opposite! The vestibular is the traditional entrance exam system created by Brazilian universities way back in the 20th century.

ENEM was introduced much later in 1998 (originally to evaluate high school quality) and only became the unified national university exam via SiSU in 2009.
Because it's not mandatory, they tied it to university admissions to give it real value. Before 2009, many students wouldn't even take it or would turn in blank answers.

I find it cool that anyone can take it every year regardless of age. For adults who couldn't finish school, you can even use ENEM to get your high school diploma if you meet the minimum score across all areas and write a passing essay. I had colleagues at university in their 60s who finally got to make their dream of getting a degree come true through this system!

Sou professor da rede particular no Brasil, e infelizmente é triste concordar, que a diferença na educação na rede particular e pública é gigantesca!!! Achei ótimo o seu vídeo!!!

Im a teacher in both Public and private schools. The payment for both dont changes much, and thats the norm except for REALLY big cities with more expensive private schools that charge more. And usually the same teachers that work in private schools also work in public schools.

Sou professora de escola pública há 20 anos, cada escola é um caso, assim como em cada estado. Trabalho em uma escola onde o estado em si, possuem um nota abaixo da média, mas a escola está sempre acima da média do estado, isso se deve a direção e ao nível dos professores. Sei que educação pública do Brasil caiu muito o nível, mas ainda temos escolas boas, apesar dos pesares.

In Brazil piblic basic education is run by municipalities, middle education by states and universities usually by federal government. This leads to huge differences most of all in the first years of school, depending on where you live.
In parallel, there are private institutions for all grades.
Elementary and middle years are usually better in private schools, with some big exceptions.
But when it comes to univesities, it's the opposite: public ones are usually far better than private ones - also with a few big exceptions.
It's not easy nor straitforward to choose the best options for your kid, you must research and be careful all along the way.

I have lived in EU , USA , Brazil and other countries and it is all the same. When you go to poor popular area the quality of schooling goes down but at least in Brazil you can go to top universities without entering in debt for a lifetime.my experience in bilingual private school in Sao Paulo is that they are for expat in large due to high price.

Saiu a notícia da BBC news  "- o governo da Suécia está reduzindo o ensino digital e incentivando o retorno do lápis, do caderno e dos livros físicos nas salas de aula."

I did a really good and expensive school in Brazil, but I was an horrible student. The last year I failed the exams and my dad put me in a public school. It was ridiculous easy for me, but I knew that it wasn’t good enough to enter in a good uni, so I did one year of “cursinho”, which I learnt everything that I didn’t learn at school.
Public school is super weak comparing to a good private school.

No Brasil tudo depende de cidade para cidade, morei na minha infancia em Maringá/PR, sim existe uma falta de infraestrutura, mas nao posso reclamar dos meus professores, todos ótimos professores!

Schools should always be complemented by what parents teach at home. It makes a big difference worldwide. The other factor is the student's motivation and curiosity to learn. Schools by themselves can't make miracles.

I am a teacher and I should point out that, at least in the countryside of São Paulo, I have never been offered a higher salary at a private school than at public schools. The highest salary I have ever received was in the state school system, and in my region, I have never seen a private school that offers a salary even close to what I used to make.

The infrastructure of a state school is better than that of a municipal school, but when it comes to quality of work, I will always choose municipal schools. In the municipality, I will receive a lower salary than in the state system, but I gain job stability—which isn't possible in a private school—and a MUCH higher quality of life.

As for violence, it is very important to emphasize that this varies depending on the city you are in, but I have already had an armed student inside a state school and another student killed at the school gate. As well as several students monitored by the police as juvenile offenders, many of these students are involved in drug trafficking and, in some cases, support their families with this money. And that is the biggest barrier that keeps me away from state schools: safety.

This is not the case in all public schools, especially municipal ones, but this is the reality of life for many students, and it enters the school environment.

In the municipal system, I have already seen students who are children of drug addicts and live in shelters, students who do not have basic sanitation at home and go to school smelling of urine, or an 11-year-old boy being taken by the police because he was acting as a drug courier ("aviãozinho").

These are marks of social inequality, it's part of the reality and it's inevitable, it demonstrates why we are still not a fully developed country.

This is why I would always choose the municipal school, it's the option that would not put my life at risk, as happens in state schools.

I’m a foreigner too! I’m Romanian and have lived in Brazil since I was little, and the schools here are a THOUSAND times better than in Romania, like, WAY better. here is more playful and very free, the education system is INCRIBLE in compare to România! bfr, thx God I study(still studying) here in Brazil

Brazilian here, living in Belo Horizonte... Long time watcher.. I super appreciate the perspectives and the point in your videos. They really help build a more open minded perspective! ❤

My kid just turned 4y/o and  all the tutors (teaches and assistants) are absolutely super kind and outstanding at the municipal partner* school he goes to (*that means a private school to young kids that is free for me but paid by the city - 5 meal a day, school supplies, uniforms etc all included - zero cost)..

It is not by any means a fancy school, it is a neighborhood school...we donate stuff to the school all the time like toys, clothing etc (they provide a bit of comfort to families that might need it too)... it is a place where he can interact with people from different life backgrounds, some autistic and other neuro divergent kids  ( like myself) , kids just being kids, in the same classroom... he does absolutely fine . And I feel like he learns and also contributes to the learning of other kids who might have special needs.

Teachers are focused in including kids with a variety of special "personal situations" (learning, live, family and cognitive - they don't calm it "personal situations", that is my poor  wording here) particularities In their activities...

It is impressive how flexible, including and welcoming kids can be... They are just awesome humans (in miniature form).

Turns out at the mighty age of 4 y/o he is a super kind, curious, communicative kid. Of course some of these traits might be personality traits and family education, but still I find it mesmerizing how this environment has been developing him.

Cheers and thanks for sharing your perspectives, always! ❤

For your daugher high school consider a federal institute, those are the best schools in the country and are free. I studied in one, the infrastructure is way above the average and most techers have master degree or PhD.

Achei sua avaliação como pai muito interessante para o momento atual, especialmente como visão geral do que se vê no contraste entre as capitais e o interior do país. Eu nasci em 1961, cresci no Rio de Janeiro andando de bicicleta na rua em Laranjeiras, mas já na década de 90, tive que me mudar para um grande condomínio fechado na Barra da Tijuca (Nova Ipanema), para ficar tranquilo de deixar meus filhos brincarem na rua e atender a escola à pé, como eu pude.
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