Entry of indigenous peoples in higher education in Brazil. A panoramic essay

Abstract

This article addresses the panorama of the entry and permanence of indigenous people in higher education in Brazil based on data from the Higher Education Census conducted by Ministry of Education (MEC/ INEP, 2018). The data reveal a significant increase in the entry and permanence of indigenous people in undergraduate and graduate courses of more than 2000% between 2002 and 2018, driven by the adoption of varied and differentiated access and permanence mechanisms inspired by Law 12.711 / 2012 - the Quota Law - and adopting affirmative action policies. Despite the rapid multiplication of indigenous presence in universities, numerous difficulties and challenges are faced, both by indigenous students and by universities. Problems of reception more appropriate to indigenous subjects by universities and common challenges in the process of building dialogue and pedagogical practices that are more receptive to indigenous students’ own knowledge, necessary for the realization of multicultural and multiepistemic processes in higher education.