Painted eyes, loose hair and chains? This is no longer part of the school routine of the 650 students at Municipal School Teacher Altair da Costa Lima, in the metropolitan region of Salvador. Two months ago, the school joined the Disciplinary Vector, a technical cooperation agreement between city halls and Military Police of Bahia.
The project emerged as an alternative to improve the results of municipal basic education units. In it, the administration remains under the management of the city halls, the pedagogical plan is the teacher's responsibility, but the discipline is in charge of reserve military police. The model is implemented in schools with costs borne by the municipality.
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This is where the model proposed by the Disciplinary Vector differs from the management of the Military Police Colleges (CPM). Bahia currently has 15 CPM's units, very close to the maximum allowed by current legislation - 17. The agreements signed between the PM Command and municipal governments were authorized by the governor, Rui Costa, in March.
So far, two indoor units have joined the model. The first unit was the Professora Maria do Carmo de Araújo Maia School, in the city of Campo Formoso. The school was followed by Altair da Costa Lima, located in the municipality of Dias D’Ávila. Another two should adopt the model soon, both located in Sobradinho and Nova Soure.
However, the trend is for units from another 19 municipalities to be included in the Disciplinary Vector, as soon as the negotiations between the respective mayors and the PM are finalized. And, what do students and teachers think of these school communities? How is the disciplinary routine applied in schools?
School management remains under the responsibility of teachers and city halls, but discipline, as we have seen, was in charge of the Military Police. In this way, the routine of Altair da Costa Lima students has changed considerably. The first came in the form of a presentation. Initially, students were given a provisional uniform until the uniform arrived.
For the time being, students must go to school wearing a white T-shirt with the coat of arms of the city hall and the Bahian flag, worn inside their pants, in addition to closed-toe black shoes. With the uniform, the definitive uniform becomes blue tactel pants or skirt accompanied by a white polo shirt with name and blood type.
The hair has also changed. Girls should wear a bun, without “exaggerated hairstyle (full or high) and/or covering the forehead”. Boys should keep their hair machine cut #2 and #3 on the sides and top, respectively. The use of paint, fringe or topknot is prohibited. A “hair magazine” is done every 20 days.
On a daily basis, students need to present themselves in united order, that is, troop formation. On the court, they salute, as well as in corporations and colleges, in fact, military. In the classrooms, each student has a predetermined place and the environments have doors with glass windows.
Thus, disciplinary tutors can monitor student behavior. Also, each class has a different leader every ten days. When the teacher enters, he should salute and inform about any absence. The rules are prescribed in the Disciplinary Internal Regulations.
According to the text, there are three types of transgressions – minor, medium and serious. The former include arriving late for activities, leaving the room without permission, moving around while you are in shape, and wearing adornments along with your uniform. The next ones would be among the averages.
As an example, they are failing to greet employees, not cutting their hair or bringing publications contrary to discipline. Serious offenses include physical or verbal aggression, signing a school document by the parent or guardian, theft and possession of alcoholic beverages, drugs or explosive material inside the school.
For each fault committed, the student is warned, scolded, removed from class or suspended from activities, thus receiving a reduction in his/her behavioral grade. If the index reaches a value lower than 2, it is considered “incompatible” and has its transfer requested to another municipal school.
On the other hand, behaviors consistent with the regulation yield increases in the average. Receiving individual or collective praise, your grade can reach the maximum index when you are considered as a “disciplineally exceptional student”. The regulation is supervised by three reserve sergeants of the Military Police.
One of the reasons for Altair da Costa Lima to join the Disciplinary Vector was the low performance of the students. In the Basic Education Development Index (Ideb) 2017, the school even ran out of grades for the 9th grade due to lack of student participation. The average obtained by the college was below the target in the last two years.
Added to this, there are the disciplinary issues and violence inside and around the school. Dias D'Ávila's Secretary of Education, Francisco Lessa, claims to have detected the activity of factions of criminal groups within the unit, which characterized an emergency situation.
Fights, drugs and hidden weapons. In a report published by the BBC about the Disciplinary Vector schools, a 7th grade elementary school student at Altair da Costa Lima describes this type of situation as frequent. She even assumes that she has been the protagonist of conflicts with colleagues within the school itself.
Before joining the model, the girl went to school with painted eyes and loose hair. Today, she needs to pin them up in a bun and wear discreet makeup. Nail polishes and lipsticks should also have soft colors. Despite the demands, she sees the change in the school's routine positively and comments on the improvement in the school environment.
The young woman is not alone and has her opinion corroborated by another student. According to her, “I couldn't attend class, there were fights all the time (…) a mess. Now, it's better to study”. However, as everything has two sides, other students are not so complacent about the changes in the school.
One student points out that, in fact, the school seems calmer, but some determinations by the administration are not to everyone's liking. “I can't even wear a chain”, complains the boy who attends the 9th grade of Elementary School. And he is not the only one to file a complaint.
When commenting on the routine preached in the classroom, a student says she does not want to continue in school next year. “You can't do anything because they're already pissed off,” says the young woman. Another frequent complaint is about permissions to leave the room and drink water. According to sergeant PM Gilson Santos, such exits must be regulated.
“They spend the whole break and don't drink water, so they want to leave when class starts. (...) We held back a little, so as not to leave everyone at once. Even the teacher gets in the way,” explains Santos, who is responsible for monitoring the cameras spread across the patios, court and corridors. And the classrooms? They do not have video surveillance.
The internal changes led to different opinions among the school's teachers. Kátia Murta, pedagogical director at Altair da Costa Lima, points to the positive transformation when she compares the current period to that found when she took over the direction three years ago. According to her, graffiti, threats and vandalism are over.
The director goes on to say that the teachers are the same, most of whom have been working at the school for more than ten years. In addition, the administrative and pedagogical part is still taken care of by the school community. The pedagogical coordinator, Genilza Dias, acknowledges not having had a positive first impression of the Disciplinary Vector.
Allotted at the school for 22 years, she is against the transformation of the unit into a military school that would take away the autonomy of the teacher. However, she claims that there is still the freedom to work on the content and the reprimand regarding the students' lack of commitment. She also emphasizes the change in behavior of students.
The Arts teacher, Claudia Marinho, approves the students' new discipline, but stresses that it is premature to make an in-depth analysis of the change due to the lack of practical results in the classroom. The teacher also recalls the need for family participation in school affairs.
