The proposal by the Tarcisio de Freitas (Republican) government to split São Paulo State School, which has more than 1,200 students, is likely to trigger a series of conflicts between administrators of units coexisting in the same building, according to education experts interviewed by the report.
As shown in sheetThe state Ministry of Education, headed by Renato Feder, is preparing to reorganize schools on the claim of simplifying the administration of the force. The idea is to split the school into two, each offering one level of education and having its own management team.
Desegregated schools operate in different shifts within the same building. The split must occur before the start of the 2026 academic year.
“The government claims to simplify the management of schools by artificially creating two schools that coexist in the same building. In reality, this measure should further complicate management, since two different teams will decide on the use of space, input and the work of teachers,” says Saloman Jimenez, a professor at the USP Faculty of Education.
He assesses that conflicts could arise between the two administrations, for example when deciding on building renovations or purchasing materials for schools. There are also questions about whether students will be able to work outside of the stage’s opening hours.
“This division creates a series of problems in daily school life. This proposal ignores the relationship between students, teachers, and school areas.”
In response to questions, the secretariat said it did not yet have an answer on how decision-making would be divided between the two management teams. It was also unclear whether students would be able to attend school after school.
Experts stress that the idea of restructuring the São Paulo state network, the country’s largest with more than 3 million students, is not new. In 1995, the Mario Cobas government also implemented reforms that separated schools into different levels of education, with the same claim of improving educational management and, as a result, improving the quality of education.
Twenty years later, in 2015, then-governor Gerard Alkmin also proposed grouping schools to offer only one level of education. But the proposal envisaged the closure of more than 90 schools and the curtailment of classes in a further 754 units, affecting more than 300,000 students.
The project, without consultation or consultation with the school community, faced strong opposition from students who occupied dozens of units in protest of the closure.
“The government maintains the same premise as 30 years ago that changes in aspects of school management are the determining factor for improved educational outcomes. Once again, the government does not take into account other important factors in education, such as school infrastructure and teachers’ working conditions,” said João Víctor Oliveira, a researcher at Repu (Public Schools and Universities Network).
In response to questions, the ministry also did not say whether it planned to renovate or increase investment in the buildings housing the divided schools.
Principals spoke sheet They were informed about the project only last week and told that they needed to formally establish membership by last Wednesday (12th). They are frustrated that they are given little time to analyze proposals and consult with teachers, students, and families.
Tarsisio’s government has said it may extend this deadline, but did not provide a new date.
The government defended the proposal, saying that “desegregation” and the resulting reduction in school size were in line with academic literature. Schools with larger numbers of students, shifts, and stages of instruction are likely to have more complex educational management.
“The primary purpose of the subdivision is to increase intimacy and communication between the administrative team and the instructional coordinator and teacher groups,” the document submitted to principals states.
The document also claims that reducing school size will allow administrative teams to “improve their ability to identify learning gaps and develop recovery strategies.”
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