Every week, since 2005, Brazilian and Argentinean children who reside in cities such as Uruguaiana (RS) and Paso de los Libres live a different experience: they have classes with teachers from the neighboring country, instead of teachers from their own. The initiative is part of the program “Border Schools”, presented on Friday (16) to the members of the Committee on Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Sport of the Mercosul Parliament.

The schools involved in the project are located in "twin cities", which are very close to each other and situated at the border between the two countries. The program began with students from the first grade and now reaches the fourth grade of fundamental teaching. The program was created after an agreement signed with Argentina when senator Cristovam Buarque (PDT-DF) was the minister of Education and it should be soon extended to countries as Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.

According to the general coordinator of the Teacher Preparation Program of the Ministry of Education, Roberta de Oliveira, the schools do not promote merely a teaching of foreign language, but rather a teaching of regular disciplines ministered in the spoken language of the other country.

In other words, the teacher ministers the class in a very natural way, speaking his own language to students from the other country. The children demonstrate plenty of interest, as the coordinator said, but in the beginning they seem to be shy in the language that they are learning.

- We try to value the culture of the other country, and we noticed that the language is only a detail - said Roberta.

She informed that the Argentinean children learn more easily Portuguese than the Brazilians learn Spanish. According to her, it happens mainly because of the great exhibition of Brazilian shows in Argentinean television.

Concerned with this information, Argentinean senator Sonia Escudero lamented that she did not find, at the hotel she was staying in, in Brasília, any Argentinean channel of television , while in her country it would be much easier to find Brazilian channels. The senator believes that cultural exchange should come from both sides.

Senator Cristovam Buarque suggested adopting a common program to the countries of Mercosul, so that, in 15 years, all children in the region might become bilingual. In his opinion, this will be possible if children have an early contact with the other language.

The president of the committee, senator Marisa Serrano (PSDB-MS), reminded that there is a law in Brazil determining that high school students should have Spanish classes.  For that, she observed, it would be necessary to hire 30 thousand Spanish teachers.

Unila

The implementation of University of Latin American Integration (Unila), at Foz do Iguaçu (PR), should receive the support of all other member state’s parliaments. The suggestion was made by Paraguayan senator Modesto Guggiari, during the first meeting of the committee in Brazil.

During the meeting, presided by senator Marisa Serrano, the proposal to create the new university - established by a bill of the Executive Power, yet to be voted by the Chamber of Deputies - was presented by professor Célio Cunha, member of the committee for Unila’s implantation.

According to Cunha, the new university will open in the second semester of 2009 and it should have 500 teachers and 10 thousand students, half of them from Brazil. The classes will be ministered in both Portuguese and Spanish, and the knowledge will not “be compartmentalized", but interdisciplinary.  Chairs linked to the regional integration process should receive special attention. And the architectural project should receive Oscar Niemeyer signature.

- It is an ambitious project. We will work for its approval as soon as possible by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate- informed Marisa Serrano.