Six states fail to meet the minimum number of hours required for high school, study finds

Six states fail to meet the minimum requirement of 2,400 hours for basic general education in secondary education , according to a study carried out by the Public School and University Network, Repu, released on Thursday 31.

The rule, established by a law sanctioned in 2024 by President Lula (PT), breaks with the reform model established under the government of Michel Temer (MDB), which had reduced the time dedicated to disciplines to 1,800 hours (with 1,200 hours for the diversified part of the training itineraries).

Currently, secondary education must cover a total of 3,000 hours, 2,400 of which are dedicated to basic training and 600 to training itineraries.

Repu researchers evaluated the states' curricular frameworks in three phases: before the implementation of the New High School, during the implementation of Temer's reform, and in the framework in effect this year. They then compared the officially implemented class hours (in minutes) across the 27 state school systems. The analysis was based on part-time and daytime high school programs.

Analysis by states

The conclusion is that Amazonas, Bahia, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, Pará and Minas Gerais fail to comply with the requirements of the 2024 reform In total, 19 states have already implemented last year's change.

According to researchers, the most serious cases are in Amazonas and Bahia, which have not yet made progress in increasing the number of high school hours to 3,000 total teaching hours required by law by 2022.

The study indicates that Bahia operates 50-minute classes, without this being reported in official documents.

"The 5-class day (4 hours and 10 minutes in the classroom + 30 minutes for a break) practiced in Bahia's state schools implies a basic general education workload 16.7% below the limits established in Law No. 14,945/2024," the study states. The time for basic education in the state doesn't even reach the 1,800 hours established in the previous reform, according to the monitoring.

In Amazonas , researchers found a fluctuation in class time from 45 to 48 minutes, resulting in a basic general training offer 20% below 2,400 hours.

In these two states, the researchers add, the loss of class time corresponds to at least 100 school days.

In Rondônia and Santa Catarina , the official 48-minute class module is not adhered to by all schools, which, in practice, offer 45-minute classes. "This results in losses that reach 6.3% of the basic general education workload by 2025, equivalent to 1.5 fewer classes per week over the three years of high school."

The study also observed in Rondônia the widespread provision of distance learning in basic subjects of daytime high school, failing to comply with the exceptionality provision of the modality.

Pará , in turn, authorizes state schools to complete a 45-minute class module (less than the official 50-minute module), under the justification of operational difficulties with school transport shared with municipalities, which also causes a loss of 6.3% of basic general education.

Minas Gerais , although it has regulated the use of “extracurricular activities” in part-time units, has not created conditions for schools to operationalize this regulation, which has led to the authorization for a mass of students to stop attending the sixth class of the day, reserved for formative itineraries.

The understanding is that, in comparative terms, the 2024 reform did not fully recover the workload of basic subjects removed by the 2017 reform. For 2025, the study calculated a net loss of 13.7% in basic general education compared to the period before the two reforms.

"These inequalities reflect the political choices of administrators, which lack pedagogical support," says researcher Fernando Cássio , one of the study's authors. "States like São Paulo and Paraná have exacerbated this logic by implementing unequal reforms, increasing the number of hours dedicated to Portuguese and Math, while failing to make up for the number of hours devoted to subjects like Sociology and Philosophy."

According to the educator, the tactic of training students to take external assessments, such as the SAEB , is often used, which can serve as "political bargaining chips," especially during election periods. He advocates for national monitoring and actions to prevent states from abusing their autonomy.

Recommendations to states and control bodies

As a result of the analysis, the researchers recommend that state networks publish the secondary school curriculum, explicitly inform the class length and respect the minimum workload for the school stage, committing to extending the school day to 5 hours per day (6 classes/day).

They also demand that the National Education Council, Public Ministries, and other control and oversight bodies monitor education networks and assess the effects of failure to meet the hours that should be dedicated to basic education.

Another suggestion is to review the provision of Law 14.945/2024 that opens the possibility of taking advantage of “extracurricular activities” in High School, “since its effective implementation, even limited to full-time schools, is unfeasible in state networks and may violate the right to education of adolescents”.