Brazil education data shows rise in racial equity strategies

The 2026 Equity Diagnosis, released by Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC), indicates a significant increase in racial equity strategies across state and municipal education networks. Between 2024 and 2026, the percentage of municipal networks with specific departments for managing these actions rose from 15% to 42%, while 100% of state networks reported such departments by 2026.

This growth is attributed to the first two years of the National Policy for Equity, Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations, and Quilombola School Education (Pneerq). The data also shows an increase in local regulations regarding ethnic-racial relations and a rise in municipal and state campaigns for racial self-declaration to improve educational analysis.

Specifically, the state of Bahia has seen major advancements, moving from 18th to 2nd place among state networks in executing ethnic-racial education policies. Bahia also reached 1st place nationally in Quilombola School Education. These improvements are linked to teacher training, contextualized curricula, and specialized materials implemented by the state's Secretariat of Education.