Education under Collor
Between 1990 and 1992 adults' mean years of schooling went from 3.7 to 4.0, in a series that moves slowly and reflects earlier generations. The government started the national assessment of basic education and a program of full-time education centers, and ended the Educar Foundation.
What started
-
First Saeb application
First application of the National Basic Education Assessment System, a sample-based learning assessment coordinated by Inep.
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 3.7
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data
-
Integrated Child Care Centers (CIAC)
Program of centers combining full-time school, health and assistance, later renamed CAIC. The announced target was far above what was built (number built not checked).
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 3.8
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data
Cuts, withholdings and limits
-
End of the Educar Foundation
The 1990 administrative reform authorized (April law) and ordered (May decree) the extinction of the federal youth and adult literacy agency. Part of the literature states that responsibility passed to states and municipalities.
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 3.7
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data
Change in the series over the period
From the year before the start to the last year of the period, with an optional lag. Compare with Latin America and neighbors: if all moved together, the change is probably not a government's doing.
no lag
| Indicator | Window | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico | Latin America & Caribbean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean years of schooling (UNDP) | 1989–1992 * | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) | 1989–1992 * | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | +1.7 p.p. |
1-year lag
| Indicator | Window | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico | Latin America & Caribbean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean years of schooling (UNDP) | 1990–1993 * | +0.4 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | no data |
| Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) | 1990–1993 * | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | +2.0 p.p. |
2-year lag
| Indicator | Window | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico | Latin America & Caribbean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean years of schooling (UNDP) | 1991–1994 * | +0.4 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | +0.2 yrs | no data |
| Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) | 1991–1994 * | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | +2.0 p.p. |
Pace before and during the government
Yearly change in this window, against the same length immediately before. Talk of a change in pace only when the series moved differently before; even then it does not say why. If Latin America changed pace together, the cause is probably not the government.
| Indicator | Before | During | Latin America & Caribbean: before → during |
|---|
Mean years of schooling (UNDP)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP)
- Source: UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version: HDR 2025 · Collected on: 2026-10-26 · License: CC-BY-3.0-IGO
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 6.3 | 5.9 |
| 1991 | 3.8 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.0 |
| 1992 | 4.0 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.1 |
| 1993 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 6.5 | 6.2 |
| 1994 | 4.3 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| 1995 | 4.4 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
| 1996 | 4.6 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 |
| 1997 | 4.8 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 |
| 1998 | 4.9 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 6.8 | 6.5 |
| 1999 | 5.1 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 6.8 | 6.6 |
| 2000 | 5.3 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| 2001 | 5.4 | 8.9 | 9.3 | 6.9 | 6.8 |
| 2002 | 5.6 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| 2003 | 5.8 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| 2004 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 9.7 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| 2005 | 6.2 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 7.5 |
| 2006 | 6.3 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 6.8 | 7.9 |
| 2007 | 6.5 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 7.2 | 7.9 |
| 2008 | 6.7 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 7.3 | 7.9 |
| 2009 | 6.8 | 10.5 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 8.1 |
| 2010 | 6.9 | 10.6 | 9.9 | 7.4 | 8.0 |
| 2011 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 8.3 |
| 2012 | 7.2 | 10.8 | 9.8 | 7.6 | 8.5 |
| 2013 | 7.3 | 10.9 | 10.0 | 7.8 | 8.4 |
| 2014 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 10.1 | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| 2015 | 7.5 | 10.9 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 8.6 |
| 2016 | 7.7 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 8.2 | 8.6 |
| 2017 | 7.8 | 11.0 | 10.6 | 8.4 | 8.7 |
| 2018 | 8.0 | 11.1 | 10.8 | 8.5 | 8.9 |
| 2019 | 8.1 | 11.1 | 10.9 | 8.6 | 9.1 |
| 2020 | 8.3 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 9.2 |
| 2021 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| 2022 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| 2023 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over)
- Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version: 2026-10-08 · Collected on: 2026-11-01 · License: CC-BY-4.0
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 74.6 | 93.9 | – | – | 83.0 |
| 1982 | – | – | 91.1 | – | – |
| 1990 | – | – | – | – | 87.6 |
| 1991 | – | 96.0 | – | – | – |
| 1992 | – | – | 94.3 | – | – |
| 1993 | – | – | – | 91.1 | – |
| 1996 | – | – | – | 91.2 | – |
| 2000 | 86.4 | – | – | – | 90.5 |
| 2001 | – | 97.2 | – | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – | 95.7 | – | 90.3 |
| 2004 | 88.6 | – | – | 92.8 | 90.9 |
| 2005 | – | – | – | 92.8 | 91.6 |
| 2006 | 89.6 | – | – | 92.3 | 91.7 |
| 2007 | 90.0 | – | – | 92.7 | 92.8 |
| 2008 | 90.0 | – | – | 93.4 | 92.9 |
| 2009 | 90.3 | – | – | 93.2 | 93.4 |
| 2010 | 90.4 | – | – | 93.4 | 93.1 |
| 2011 | 91.4 | – | 96.7 | 93.6 | 93.5 |
| 2012 | 91.3 | – | – | – | 94.2 |
| 2013 | 91.5 | – | 96.3 | – | 94.0 |
| 2014 | 91.7 | – | – | 94.2 | 94.6 |
| 2015 | 92.1 | – | 96.9 | 94.3 | 94.5 |
| 2016 | 92.8 | – | – | 94.7 | 94.9 |
| 2017 | 93.1 | – | 96.4 | 94.9 | 95.0 |
| 2018 | 93.2 | – | – | 95.1 | 95.4 |
| 2019 | 93.9 | – | – | 95.3 | 95.4 |
| 2020 | 94.7 | 99.1 | – | 95.6 | 95.3 |
| 2021 | 94.8 | – | – | 95.7 | 95.7 |
| 2022 | 94.4 | – | – | 95.3 | 95.1 |
| 2023 | 94.6 | – | – | 95.5 | 95.8 |
| 2024 | 94.7 | – | – | 95.3 | 95.6 |
How to assess a government and its policies critically
Other factors that moved the same series
The period combined recession, a freeze on financial assets and a stabilization plan with high inflation, and ended in impeachment. Annual data cannot separate the first year, with the stabilization plan, from the following ones.
Limitations
The items on this page were written from research in secondary sources, without access to the official texts in the development environment; each item shows whether it was checked against the official record.
Mean years of schooling and adult literacy move slowly by construction and reflect decades of enrollment; a change within one term does not measure that term's policies. Enrollment series by level only start in 2007 or 2012, and the catalog has no learning series or federal spending in reais.
Sources
- Planalto — Legislação federal
- Banco Mundial — World Development Indicators (educação)
- PNUD — Relatório de Desenvolvimento Humano, dados
| # | Number | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3.7 | undp_hdr.mys BRA 1990 · UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version HDR 2025 · Collected on 2026-10-26 |
| 2 | 4.0 | undp_hdr.mys BRA 1992 · UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version HDR 2025 · Collected on 2026-10-26 |