October 14, 2021

15:10

Priscilla Peixoto – from Cenarium

MANAUS – Precarious structure, broken desks and mud floor are some of the problems pointed out by professionals who work at the State Indigenous School Joaquim Jones José Ingaricó, in the Serra Do Sol Community, Uiramutã municipality, in Roraima. In conversation with CENARIUM, education professionals, who preferred not to be identified, reported some of the urgent needs of the teaching unit and the students of the community.

According to teachers, the adobe school was built by the residents of the region, however, the management was under the responsibility of the state government, which has not yet delivered a standard headquarters for the students of the place. “It’s not a complaint, but a request and an attempt to draw attention for the state government to look at this social and educational sphere”, said one of the professionals.

Besides the structural improvement, the place also needs fans and new and adequate desks to accommodate the students, ensuring, at least, a more “comfortable” environment for about 180 children who study at the school. The desks, in fact, are reused and were brought to the community from another place.

“The school is made of beaten earth, now that we managed to put some tiles on it. The chairs that are there arrived about four years ago from a community called Água Fria, 73 kilometers from there, and were taken by the residents and students. Each one carried the furniture on their head to secure the seats, and today they are all damaged”, recalls the professional to CENARIUM.

Other problems

Other factors that impair learning and school performance are the lack of school meals, the lack of adequate teaching materials, and the distance that some of the students face to get to the teaching unit, since the school is located in a region of difficult access in the community. According to the educators, there are not enough canoes for the students who need to cross the river to guarantee a few hours of study.

“We know that the state government receives, per indigenous student, twice as much as it costs per student in the capital and in the municipality. This knowledge is passed on during the assemblies, that Fundeb passes on a double amount due to the difficulty of getting this didactic material to these places and what it seems is that it is not arriving”, complains one of the educators.

Positioning

Sought by CENARIUM about the complaints and to know if it would take any measures to improve the structure of the school, the Secretary of Education and Sports (SEED) said in a statement that the state government of Roraima is seeking funds for the revitalization of indigenous schools.

“The Secretary of Education and Sports reports that the state government is seeking funds for the revitalization of indigenous schools, with own resources and parliamentary amendment. And the State Indigenous School Joaquim Jones José Ingarikó, located in the Serra do Sol Indigenous Community, will be contemplated”, says the document.

About not having a proper and adequate building for the 179 students of the Elementary School and Youth and Adult Education (EJA), the secretary also said that “the management is working to change this reality”.