Alesc (Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina) approved this Wednesday (10) a bill that prohibits the adoption of racial quotas in universities that receive state investments.
The text, approved with only 7 votes against, will be submitted to Governor Jorginho Mello (PL) for sanction.
It prohibits reservation of vacancies not only for admission of students but also for hiring teachers, technicians and any other professionals.
The project was proposed by a deputy from the same party as Mello, Alex Brasil, who justifies it as a way of guaranteeing equality in the selection processes. “The adoption of quotas based on criteria other than strictly economic or the origin of students in public schools, raises legal controversies and can come into conflict with the principles of equality and impersonality, creating distinctions that do not necessarily reflect situations of disadvantage,” he writes in the proposal presented.
In October, the text was deemed unconstitutional by the first rapporteur, Fabiano da Luz (PT). With a new opinion presented, it was approved.
Institutions can pay a fine of R$100,000 per notice and lose state funds for non-compliance.
The reservation of places for people with disabilities, based on exclusively economic criteria and for students in state public establishments, is excluded from this ban.
If sanctioned, the project should mainly affect Udesc (Santa Catarina State University), but also the institutions of the Acafe system (Association of Educational Foundations of Santa Catarina), benefiting from public resources through the Free University program. In addition, private establishments receive subsidies from Fumdesc (Support Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Higher Education in Santa Catarina).
The Santa Catarina Students’ Union has criticized the measure and says it describes a political project aimed at erasing and whitewashing higher education. “Racism creates barriers, and the removal of racial quotas institutionally means that the historical exclusion suffered by Black and Indigenous populations does not matter.”
At the federal level, racial quotas in Brazil have been supported by law since 2012. The measure reserves 50% of places in federal institutions for students who have completed their secondary education in the public network. Under this criterion, percentages are allocated to low-income people, blacks, mestizos, indigenous people, quilombolas and people with disabilities.
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