Brazilian Senate approves permanent status for teacher training program

The Brazilian Senate has approved a bill under urgent regime to grant permanent legal status to the Institutional Program for Teaching Initiation Scholarships (Pibid). Currently operating via presidential decrees and ordinances, the program aims to formalize support for teacher training in basic education.

Under the proposed law, Pibid will remain under the coordination of the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), in partnership with higher education institutions and public school networks. The program allows students from all semesters of teaching degree courses (licenciatura) to participate, facilitating contact between university training and the reality of public schools.

The legislation also provides for specific actions regarding rural, indigenous, quilombola, special, and deaf-bilingual education. In addition to scholarships for students, the bill guarantees stipends for public school teachers who supervise participants and for higher education professors coordinating the activities. The project now moves to the presidency for sanction.