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New Policy Limits 100% Online Courses, Imposes In-Person Classes, and Requires Physical Infrastructure at EAD Centers
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed on Monday, the 19th, the decree that creates the New Distance Education Policy in Brazil. The measure was published by the Ministry of Education (MEC) after successive delays and aims to regulate online higher education courses, which have grown rapidly in recent years.
According to MEC data, between 2018 and 2023, distance courses registered a growth of 232%. Only in 2023, the number of new students in EAD courses was double that of those in in-person courses. Given this scenario, the government decided to review the sector’s regulations.
EAD Gains Prominence but with New Requirements
During the announcement of the new policy, Education Minister Camilo Santana stated that distance education occupies a central position in the higher education system and, therefore, deserves special attention from the government.
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He believes that distance education can provide a rich experience, as long as there is a real commitment to teaching and learning.
The new decree establishes that no course can be 100% online. Furthermore, programs such as medicine, law, dentistry, nursing, and psychology will be exclusive to in-person format.
Other health-related courses and teaching degrees are also prohibited from being offered entirely online.
In permitted EAD courses, at least 20% of the workload must consist of in-person activities or synchronous classes, such as live lessons.
These classes must allow for interaction between students and teachers, with attendance monitoring. It will also be necessary to administer at least one in-person exam per curricular unit, with greater weight in the final grade.
In-Person and Blended Courses Are Also Affected
The new rule also alters the operation of in-person and blended courses. In the in-person model, it will be mandatory for most of the workload to be physical, limiting the use of distance activities to 30%. Previously, this limit was 40%.
Blended courses must include, necessarily, physical in-person activities, such as internships, laboratory practices, and outreach, in addition to mediated synchronous moments and distance content.
The decree also provides that specific guidelines, such as the National Curriculum Guidelines, may define different thresholds.
Student Limit and Requirement for Qualified Teachers
The decree also imposes a limit of 70 students per synchronous class. Another important change is the requirement for qualified teachers compatible with the courses offered.
An adequate number of teachers and pedagogical mediators with specific training will also be required for each class.
These mediators will now have their information included in the Higher Education Census, which will allow for better control over the quality of education offered. According to the MEC, the goal is to ensure more effective pedagogical support for students in distance education courses.
Minimum Physical Infrastructure at EAD Centers
From now on, support centers for EAD courses will also need to offer minimum infrastructure. This includes laboratories and appropriate study environments. The requirement aims to ensure that students have adequate support, even in courses that are not entirely in-person.
This change aims to curb practices where institutions offered 100% virtual courses without physical support, which hindered students’ learning. With the new rule, a more balanced approach between flexibility and quality is expected.
Adaptation Period for Institutions
Educational institutions will have a period of two years to adapt to the new rules. Students who are already enrolled in courses that will no longer be offered in the distance modality will be able to complete them in the same manner as they started.
According to MEC, the measure aims to guarantee the right to access, retention, and quality learning, regardless of format. It also seeks to value education professionals.
Private Sector Sees Negative Impact
Despite the government’s declared objectives, the new policy is expected to be viewed negatively by the private sector. An analysis by EXAME points out that the changes are likely to raise operational costs for institutions, mainly due to the requirement for more teachers and live classes.
Additionally, the limitation on format flexibility reduces the scale that was previously possible with fully digital platforms. For the market, this may hinder the expansion and competitiveness of educational institutions that relied on EAD as their main business model.
With the new policy in effect, the landscape of distance higher education in Brazil is expected to undergo significant transformations in the next two years.
With information from Exame.
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