How inequality affects Brazilian education levels

The OECD’s Pisa test (Program for International Student Assessment) is considered by many experts as one of the most comprehensive assessments of education levels in the world. The exam, carried out every three years, charts students on reading skills, mathematics, and science, measuring how well countries are preparing their students for the future.

Brazil, once again, found itself in the bottom half of the 77 countries tested, despite recording its best score to date for reading skills. The country reached a mean performance of 413 in reading, 384 in mathematics, and 404 in science—coming below the OECD average in all three subjects. The results for math and science are even more concerning, as they indicate stagnation, being comparable to Brazil’s in 2009.

The results also underline a problem that runs deep in Brazil: inequality. While “socioeconomic status was a strong predictor of performance in mathematics and science across all Pisa participating countries,” the gap between wealthy and low-income students has gotten wider in Brazil. For reading, the difference went from 84 points ten years ago to 97 now. Six percent of high-income students got top marks in reading; zero percent of poorer students managed to reach such levels.

The differences become even more pronounced when...