Radio Mundo Real

Thinking about the education of the working class of the Brazilian countryside and updating the debate about the violation of rights against rural workers was the goal of the second edition of the National Meeting on Rural Education (ENERA) that took place in Goias State, from September 22-25, 2015.

Popular educator and coordinator of the National Capacity-Building Collective of the MST, organizer of the event, described in an interview with Real World Radio the phenomenon of commodification of education, and the broad campaign carried out against the closing down of rural schools.

"To close down a rural school is a crime" was one of the main claims at the Meeting, which led to a march in Brasilia, capital of the country, by the hundreds of participants.

Marcia, interviewed by the Via Campesina´s communication team present in Goias, said that in the past decades, 37,000 rural schools have been closed down in Brazil, to the detriment of rural access to basic education.

Primary and secondary schools and universities are a space, said Marcia, to combat agribusiness, as well as the capital pedagogy. "We can´t let schools be closed down. For this, the struggle continues and rural and education workers need to organize ourselves", said Marcia.

"The struggle against agribusiness takes place inside schools. Agribusiness companies are very present in rural schools, allowing the entrance of agribusiness ideologies and capital pedagogy", said the educator in the interview.

The MST member also described the work of said organization to combat illiteracy, with methodologies developed in Cuba, in the most vulnerable areas of Brazil, for instance, Marañao state".