Education under Lula

1st term (2003–2006)

Adults' mean years of schooling went from 5.6 in 2002 to 6.3 in 2006, and public education spending from 3.8% to 4.9% of GDP. The government unified conditional transfers into Bolsa Família, created ProUni and the higher education assessment system, and proposed the Fundeb, approved at the end of the term.

This visualization is descriptive and does not show that a government caused the change. See the methodology.

What started

Literate Brazil Program

2003-09-08 · Decreto 4.834/2003 · Not yet checked against the official record

Federal youth and adult literacy program run through agreements with partners.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): no data %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 5.8 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
Bolsa Família

2004-01-09 · Lei 10.836/2004 · Not yet checked against the official record

Unifies cash transfer programs, among them the school grant, with school attendance conditions.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.0 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.0 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): 88.6 %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
National Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes)

2004-04-14 · Lei 10.861/2004 · Not yet checked against the official record

Replaces the Provão with assessment of institutions, courses and students (Enade).

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.0 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.0 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): 88.6 %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
Return of vocational education integrated with secondary school

2004-07-23 · Decreto 5.154/2004 · Not yet checked against the official record

Revokes the 1997 decree and again allows technical courses integrated with secondary school.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.0 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.0 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): 88.6 %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
University for All Program (ProUni)

2005-01-13 · Lei 11.096/2005 · Not yet checked against the official record · Record on the education page

Exempts private institutions from taxes in exchange for full and partial scholarships to low-income students, with quotas for Black, Indigenous and disabled students.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.5 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.2 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
Nine-year primary education

2006-02-06 · Lei 11.274/2006 · Not yet checked against the official record · Record on the education page

Extends primary education to nine years, with entry at age six.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.9 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.3 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): 89.6 %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %
Fundeb

2006-12-19 · Emenda Constitucional 53/2006 · Not yet checked against the official record · Record on the education page

Replaces Fundef with a fund covering all of basic education, with a Union top-up; regulated in 2007.
- Afterwards, 2020: Expanded · Emenda Constitucional 108/2020 — Made permanent in 2020, with a growing Union top-up.
Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 4.9 %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 6.3 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): 89.6 %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %

Cuts, withholdings and limits

Extension of the DRU

2003 · Earmark · Emenda Constitucional 42/2003 · Not yet checked against the official record

The 2003 amendment extended the Union revenue delinking, which kept reaching the base of the federal education minimum until the reduction for education from 2009.

Source: www.planalto.gov.br
Series in the event's year (Brazil)
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): no data %
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP): 5.8 years
- Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over): no data %
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 1.0 %

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.

Absolute change in the series unit (p.p. = percentage points); relative change, in %, only where shown.

no lag

Indicator	Window	Brazil	Argentina	Chile	Colombia	Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) %	2002–2006	+1.1 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.	−1.0 p.p.	−0.4 p.p.	+0.3 p.p.	+0.0 p.p.
Mean years of schooling (UNDP) years	2002–2006	+0.7 yrs	+0.8 yrs	+0.3 yrs	−0.2 yrs	+0.9 yrs	no data
Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) %	2002–2006	no data	no data	no data	no data	+1.5 p.p.	+1.2 p.p.
Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) %	2002–2006	−0.0 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.	no data	+0.0 p.p.	+0.0 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.

1-year lag

Indicator	Window	Brazil	Argentina	Chile	Colombia	Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) %	2003–2007	no data	+0.9 p.p.	−0.7 p.p.	−0.2 p.p.	−0.4 p.p.	+0.5 p.p.
Mean years of schooling (UNDP) years	2003–2007	+0.7 yrs	+0.4 yrs	+0.2 yrs	+0.2 yrs	+0.7 yrs	no data
Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) %	2003–2007	no data	no data	no data	no data	no data	+1.3 p.p.
Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) %	2003–2007	+0.1 p.p.	+0.0 p.p.	no data	+0.0 p.p.	+0.0 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.

2-year lag

Indicator	Window	Brazil	Argentina	Chile	Colombia	Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) %	2004–2008	+1.3 p.p.	+1.4 p.p.	+0.2 p.p.	−0.1 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.	+0.9 p.p.
Mean years of schooling (UNDP) years	2004–2008	+0.7 yrs	+0.4 yrs	+0.4 yrs	+0.3 yrs	+0.7 yrs	no data
Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) %	2004–2008	+1.4 p.p.	no data	no data	+0.6 p.p.	+2.0 p.p.	+1.3 p.p.
Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) %	2004–2008	+0.2 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.	no data	+0.0 p.p.	+0.1 p.p.	+0.1 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
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) per year	−0.25 p.p. (1998–2002)	+0.28 p.p. (2002–2006)	+0.15 p.p. → +0.01 p.p.
Mean years of schooling (UNDP) per year	+0.17 yrs (1998–2002)	+0.17 yrs (2002–2006)	no data

Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Mexico

%. Background bands: Brazil's presidents, not those of the chart's other geographies. Years with data: Brazil: 1995–2022 (25 years); Argentina: 1975–2023 (41 years); Chile: 1975–2022 (35 years); Colombia: 1979–2020 (29 years); Mexico: 1989–2022 (30 years).

Government expenditure on education (% of GDP): 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
1975	–	1.8	3.5	–	–
1976	–	1.2	–	–	–
1977	–	1.7	–	–	–
1978	–	1.9	3.0	–	–
1979	–	2.4	3.4	1.8	–
1980	–	2.6	4.1	1.7	–
1981	–	–	4.8	2.6	–
1982	–	1.6	–	–	–
1983	–	1.6	–	–	–
1984	–	2.6	–	3.0	–
1985	–	1.4	–	2.7	–
1986	–	1.3	–	–	–
1987	–	1.3	2.8	–	–
1989	–	1.0	–	2.7	2.3
1990	–	1.1	2.2	–	2.3
1991	–	–	–	–	2.5
1992	–	–	–	–	3.0
1993	–	–	2.4	–	–
1994	–	–	2.5	–	3.5
1995	4.6	–	2.6	–	3.5
1996	–	3.7	2.8	–	–
1997	–	–	3.0	–	–
1998	4.8	4.0	3.3	3.9	3.2
1999	3.8	4.5	3.7	4.4	3.4
2000	3.9	4.6	3.8	3.5	3.8
2001	3.8	4.8	–	3.7	4.0
2002	3.8	4.0	4.0	4.3	4.2
2003	–	3.5	3.9	4.3	4.8
2004	4.0	3.5	3.5	4.1	4.5
2005	4.5	3.9	3.3	4.0	4.6
2006	4.9	4.1	3.0	3.9	4.5
2007	5.0	4.5	3.2	4.1	4.5
2008	5.3	4.8	3.8	3.9	4.6
2009	5.5	5.5	4.3	4.8	4.9
2010	5.6	5.0	4.2	4.8	4.9
2011	5.7	5.3	4.1	4.5	4.9
2012	5.9	5.3	–	4.4	4.9
2013	5.8	5.4	4.5	4.9	4.5
2014	5.9	5.4	4.8	4.6	5.1
2015	6.2	5.8	4.9	4.5	5.1
2016	6.3	5.5	5.4	4.5	4.8
2017	6.3	5.5	5.4	4.5	4.4
2018	6.1	4.9	5.5	4.4	4.1
2019	6.0	4.8	5.6	4.5	–
2020	5.8	5.3	5.6	5.3	4.5
2021	5.5	4.7	5.0	–	4.2
2022	5.6	4.8	4.9	–	4.1
2023	–	5.0	–	–	–

† series break

Mean years of schooling (UNDP)

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Mexico

years. Background bands: Brazil's presidents, not those of the chart's other geographies. Years with data: all series: 1990–2023.

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

† series break

Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over)

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Mexico

%. Background bands: Brazil's presidents, not those of the chart's other geographies. Years with data: Brazil: 1980–2024 (22 years); Argentina: 1980–2020 (4 years); Chile: 1982–2017 (7 years); Colombia: 1993–2024 (21 years); Mexico: 1980–2024 (25 years).

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

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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

† series break

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Mexico

%. Background bands: Brazil's presidents, not those of the chart's other geographies. Years with data: Brazil: 2000–2023; Argentina: 1996–2023; Chile: 2007–2022; Colombia: 2000–2020; Mexico: 1996–2024.

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 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
1996	–	0.4	–	–	0.2
1997	–	0.4	–	–	0.3
1998	–	0.4	–	–	0.3
1999	–	0.5	–	–	0.3
2000	1.0	0.4	–	0.1	0.3
2001	1.1	0.4	–	0.1	0.3
2002	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.3
2003	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4
2004	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4
2005	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4
2006	1.0	0.5	–	0.2	0.4
2007	1.1	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.4
2008	1.1	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.4
2009	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.5
2010	1.2	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.5
2011	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.5
2012	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.4
2013	1.2	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4
2014	1.3	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4
2015	1.3	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.4
2016	1.2	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4
2017	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.3
2018	1.2	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3
2019	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3
2020	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3
2021	1.1	0.5	0.4	–	0.3
2022	1.2	0.5	0.4	–	0.3
2023	1.2	0.6	–	–	0.3
2024	–	–	–	–	0.3

† series break

How to assess a government and its policies critically

Other factors that moved the same series

Stronger economic growth and falling poverty in the period affect enrollment and retention independently of specific education policies. Evaluations of Bolsa Família on school attendance exist, but with mixed results on learning.

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

#	Number	Origin
1	5.6	undp_hdr.mys BRA 2002 · UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version HDR 2025 · Collected on 2026-10-26
2	6.3	undp_hdr.mys BRA 2006 · UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version HDR 2025 · Collected on 2026-10-26
3	3.8	wdi.se_xpd_totl_gd_zs BRA 2002 · World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version 2026-10-08 · Collected on 2026-11-01
4	4.9	wdi.se_xpd_totl_gd_zs BRA 2006 · World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version 2026-10-08 · Collected on 2026-11-01

Education under Lula

What started

Literate Brazil Program

Bolsa Família

National Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes)

Return of vocational education integrated with secondary school

University for All Program (ProUni)

Nine-year primary education

Fundeb

Cuts, withholdings and limits

Extension of the DRU

Change in the series over the period

no lag

1-year lag

2-year lag

Pace before and during the government

Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)

Mean years of schooling (UNDP)

Adult literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over)

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

Other factors that moved the same series

Limitations

Sources