Racial quotas : pro & con

In 2001, institutions of higher learning of the State of Rio de Janeiro was obligated by a law have to reserve 40% of all subjects for people form public educational system, descendents from Indians, physically disabled person and black people or dark skinned. Nevertheless, this law was approved by acclamation and without debate. This policy came into being without ample public debate. The authors didn’t analyze the fact of a radical change in Brazil's racial model. Pro
Public primary and secondary schools in Brazil do not tend to provide a solid educational foundation for continuing on to tertiary level studies. In addition, private courses for the university entrance exam are costly. Most of the students who make it into the country’s prestigious public universities come from middle and upper socioeconomic strata and studied at private schools. The initiative would reserve 50 percent of spots in the federal university system for students from public schools, half of whom must come from families with a maximum income of 1.5 minimum monthly salaries – equivalent to 313 dollars. The draft law also has to make it through the Senate education and human rights committees before it is voted on by the Senate as a whole.
According to Cara, the importance of race quotas lies in "the informal but subtle segregation in Brazil, which has perverse effects." In order for the "returns to be positive," each institution must establish its own policies for supporting students who are admitted under the quotas, both in financial terms – scholarships, for example – and with regard to academic, social and psychological aspects, he added.
The results "are quite positive in terms of social justice, in a country whose black and indigenous populations have a hard time gaining access to even their most basic rights," he said. The quota system "does not hurt overall academic performance, and guarantees a better future and more just social treatment for the beneficiaries," he said.