<b>Rui Barbosa and the issue of secondary education in <em>Diário de Notícias</em> (1889)</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascihumansoc.v29i2.918

Abstract

This article approaches discussions by Rui Barbosa (1849-1923) concerning secondary education for the newspaper Diário de Notícias in Rio de Janeiro in 1889. The objective is to debate the questions regarding secondary education at the end of the 19th century, presented by that author through an influential media outlet. Rui Barbosa attributed immense importance to education, considering it indispensable for the progress of the country, along with other reforms. During Brazilian imperial period, the author was one of the first intellectuals to stress the need for a National Education System. He also pointed to the State’s responsibility to offer public, secular and free education for all. Using the above-mentioned periodical, he campaigned in favor of federalizing the provinces and argued for many social and political issues, hoping to ignite changes that would stimulate production development based on Brazilian industrialization, as a way to consolidate the capitalist mode of production. To Barbosa, it was necessary to favor both literary and scientific subjects in secondary education, thus offering a broad education without aiming solely for approval on standardized tests that gave access to higher education.