Colleges and universities can offer up to 40% of distance classes

On-site undergraduate courses may offer up to 40% of distance classes. The previous limit was 20%. The measure is provided for in an ordinance published in the Official Gazette by the Ministry of Education (MEC). The measure does not apply to courses in the area of ​​health and engineering.

The ordinance states that students must be informed by higher education institutions that part of the face-to-face course will be taught at a distance. Institutions must detail, in an objective manner, the disciplines, contents, methodologies and forms of evaluation of these classes.

In addition, even if they are taught in a distance education (EaD) format, the assessments and required practical activities must be carried out in person at the headquarters or at one of the institution's campuses education.

According to the ordinance, in order to offer up to 40% of the workload of the distance learning course, the higher education institution must comply with certain requirements such as being accredited with the MEC in face-to-face and distance learning and having an institutional concept (CI) equal to or higher to 4. The course that will have part of the distance classes must have a Course Concept (CC) equal to or greater than 4. Both concepts are calculated from MEC assessments and follow a scale ranging from 1 to 5.

The institution must also have an undergraduate course in the distance modality, with a CC equal to or greater than 4. This course must be equivalent, that is, have the same name and degree, as one of the face-to-face courses offered by the institution.

For institutions that do not meet these requirements, the limit for offering EaD in face-to-face courses is still up to 20% of the total course load.

Repercussion

The measure was praised by private education sponsors. Private companies account for most enrollments in higher education in Brazil, 75.3%, according to the latest Higher Education Census. They also hold 90.6% of EaD enrollments.

According to the director of the Brazilian Association of Higher Education Supporters (ABMES), Sólon Caldas, the measure “comes in line with the movement that the whole world is making with regard to access to education through technology. The benefit for students is even greater by making it more flexible and allowing them to have access to the content in the way and at a time that best suits them”.

The director also said that, with regard to quality, the institutions that offer this possibility to their students “will be supported by a high quality standard, considering the supply requirements, namely: CI and CC with no minimum 4”.

For the National Union of Teachers of Higher Education Institutions (Andes-SN) the concern is with the quality of teaching, since distance courses perform worse than face-to-face ones in the evaluations of the MEC. The union complained that the academic community was not consulted before the measure was taken. The information is from Agência Brasil.