From Heat to Hope: The Overhaul of Public Schools in Brazil's Tocantins State

Elizangela Dias Ferreira, 44, a resident of Paraiso do Tocantins in Brazil, has a long-standing relationship with the Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira State School, known as JK. From her childhood as a student, to becoming a teacher, to accompanying her daughters in the classroom, she has lived and witnessed the changes at the school over the decades. The most significant change was a renovation that made teaching and learning more comfortable despite outdoor temperatures that sometimes reach 40ºC. "The school looks like a dream now. Before, the environment was very basic and became unbearable on hot days," she says.

In 2018, when the work began, the school was made of concrete slabs, which retained a lot of heat. "To try to relieve it, we used a huge, noisy fan. Often, when someone had to ask a question, we had to turn it off. Many times teachers had to request the Department of Education to reduce class hours because no one could tolerate the heat after recess," recalls the teacher.

Indeed, rising temperatures negatively affect learning. According to the Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action report, an average student in Brazil's poorest municipalities can lose up to half a year of learning overall due to rising temperatures.

JK students and teachers had to leave the school and occupy a rented building for the renovations to take place. The state government's Tocantins Integrated and Sustainable Regional Development Project (PDRIS), supported by the World Bank, financed the renovation. Through this initiative, it was possible to demolish and rebuild the old classrooms to create new air-conditioned rooms. The new structure has five classrooms, as well as spaces for dance, computer science, and martial arts; adapted bathrooms, a cafeteria, and an indoor sports court. All these facilities were ready in February 2021.

In addition to making teaching and learning viable even on the hottest days, the renovation allowed for expanded coverage. Currently, the school serves 339 students from the 6th grade of primary school to the 2nd year of high school. In 2020, the school only had 218 students, from 3rd to 9th grade of primary school.

As time went on, the JK school community encountered additional challenges. One of these was the pandemic. "Children were the most affected in every way. The students became more shy," says Elizangela. Another challenge has been the intensification of climatic phenomena, which has brought heavier rains to the region. "There have been instances where the classrooms have flooded, for example."

Still, the school community at large shows gratitude. "In Paraíso, there are private schools that do not have the structure that we see in JK. And we don't need to cross BR-153, which I was very afraid to do," says Joicy Machado, owner of a digital marketing agency and mother of 11-year-old Laura, a 6th grader. The road Joicy is referring to, known as Belém-Brasilia, passes through Tocantins and has heavy truck traffic.

A Beacon for the Community

Education was not the only area that received resources from the PDRIS: over nine years, the project invested US$ 282 million in transport, agriculture, environment, tourism, water resources, and improvement of public management.

"Most of the project's activities were related to roads and, around them, the vulnerability of children and adolescents was great. Investing in education was the way we found to reduce this problem," explains Mauricio Fregonesi, manager of the PDRIS for the government of Tocantins.

The project recovered, expanded, and improved 10 educational institutions along the BR-153 highway. The renovated schools have become something of a beacon for the community, such as the Conceição Brito State School in the city of Fátima.

Reopened in May 2022 after four years — renovation was halted for a year due to the pandemic — the school today has the capacity to serve 600 students and currently welcomes 398 students, from the 6th year of primary to the 3rd year of secondary school.

The old school was made of concrete slabs with small windows. Students ate lunch in the classroom because there was no cafeteria. The new structure has 15 air-conditioned classrooms, a cafeteria, two sports fields, computer and science laboratories, multimedia rooms, a library, bathroom blocks, and an administrative block with space for teachers, finances, board, archive, pedagogical coordination, and secretariat.

"Of course, students prefer to go to a large, clean, ventilated school that has space, desks, air conditioning, large windows, like those in the classrooms here. It makes them much more eager to learn," says teacher Nádia Bissoto.

Attracting and retaining these students required hard work, especially after the pandemic, when many left to help their families in the countryside. Nádia recalls that some of them, despite being in 6th grade, had lost the fundamentals of reading, but being in the new environment gave them all hope. "The renovation brought our students to school. I hear that some come because there is not even a fan in their homes," adds the teacher.

"Students and teachers need a welcoming, warm, and nurturing environment to realize their full potential, especially after periods of pandemic or climate shocks," says Ildo Lautharte, Senior Economist in the World Bank's Education Global Practice.

Unlike the JK students in Paraíso, those at the Conceição Brito State School did not have the option of going to another building while the remodeling was being carried out. "We worked as best we could, we did all the logistics," recalls engineer Eliza Nunes Neta, who described this job as one of the most challenging of her career. "We did a part, then we released the students to study there, and so on."

The process required a great deal of dialogue and patience from the entire school community, but the results were worth it. Today, principals, teachers, and students walk around with pride. For Eliza, this project helped elevate the standards of state school construction overall. "The fact that the work is monitored by the World Bank has led to improvements in the safety procedures of the contracted companies, in the management of solid waste, and in reducing the environmental impact," she notes.