Textbooks and marker pens are not all that science teacher Roberto Brandão, 54, takes with him each morning when he sets off for work in a school in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas. He also carries a first-aid kit in case he or any of his students is hit by a bullet.
“I always have it in my backpack because I could be shot at any time,” he said, displaying the red waterproof bag after attending a seminar on how police operations are affecting children’s learning in Maré.
A complex of 15 favelas housing 125,000 people in Rio, Maré on Thursday reached its 11th consecutive day of police operations that are demolishing buildings allegedly constructed by drug traffickers.
This time there were no shootings – which are common during such actions and often result in the deaths of innocent residents – but a less visible result emerged: schools had to be closed for more than a week.
About 20,000 students attend the 49 schools in Maré, which is located between downtown Rio and its international airport.
Only on Wednesday did the schools reopen – yet many parents were still fearful and decided to keep their children at home, leaving many classrooms empty – bringing the total number of school days lost this year due to security forces’ incursions to 29.
“It’s inconceivable to imagine 30 days of police operations in Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana,” said Eblin Farage, a social work professor at the Federal Fluminense University, referring to wealthy neighbourhoods in Rio’s South Zone. “So why is it possible in Maré? Don’t the people here count as part of the city?”
Farage coordinated a new study with the NGO Redes da Maré that interviewed 84 children and teenagers aged 10 to 15. Two-thirds (66.7%) said that when their school closes due to a police operation, the content that should be taught during the closure is never covered again.
For 92%, “violence” – in a general context, which also includes the actions of criminal groups – disrupts classes and learning; for 78%, it increases the loss of concentration during school activities.
“But the losses aren’t just educational,” said Alessandra Pinheiro, education coordinator at Redes da Maré. “For many of these children, the food provided by the school is the only meal they will have in a day,” she said, adding: “It’s also about the right to have a future.”
A book published this year, Eu devia estar na escola (I should be at school), reproduces drawings created by children from Maré at the NGO’s request. One asks: “How are we supposed to achieve our dreams when we miss so many classes?”
Maria dos Prazeres, 39, who left the north-eastern state of Rio Grande do Norte to live in Maré with her husband and their two children, has spent the past week looking for ways to entertain her youngest, Isaías. “He’s five, has autism and loves studying. He becomes very agitated at home when he misses classes, so I have to focus entirely on him,” she said.
With so many days of staying at home, she lost her job as a shrimp peeler at a small fish shop in Maré. Now her husband is her household’s sole breadwinner. “I liked having my own money, but I’m afraid to return to work. What if there’s another operation tomorrow?” she asked during the seminar organised by Redes da Maré.
Science teacher Brandão wore a yellow shirt to the seminar featuring a logo with two raised black hands and the message “Education, don’t shoot”.
He says carrying around a first-aid kit should never be normalised. “I can’t feel comfortable carrying this … We must fight to ensure that people in Maré have all their rights, such as to come and go and to education,” he said.
During the seminar, a speaker mentioned that some teachers, when assigned to work in Maré, quit out of fear after the first day. Brandão asked for the microphone: “I’m not afraid of working here. What I’m afraid of is being shot during a police operation. I’m tired of losing former students this way.”
On Tuesday, a federal prosecutor gave Rio’s city hall a 48-hour deadline to explain why the buildings are being demolished and to present a plan for making up the lost classes.
A department of education spokesperson said that students will be offered remedial activities, such as video lessons or thematic classes.
Farage believes that police operations need to end in Maré, as they “don’t impact drug trafficking significantly”. But advocating for this, she says, is not condoning organised crime, which does indeed control parts of the favelas.
Last Sunday, police discovered a ton of marijuana hidden in air ducts outside a school. According to the education department, criminals invaded the school grounds, “a space that should be sacred”, to conceal the drug.
“We know that the police are not the only problem in the favelas, but there should be other forms of public security that actually provide safety, rather than the oppression that exists today,” said Farage. “The state cannot be a violator of rights.”
