Brazilian University Will Fill Half of Its Vacancies with African Students

Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, forwarded to the National Congress a bill for a law to create the Federal University of Portuguese-Afro-Brazilian Integration (Unilab). The message of forwarding was published yesterday (24) in the Official Diary of the Union.

Lula participates in Lisbon, Portugal, today and tomorrow, in the 7th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), where he should present the model for the university, which should destine half the vacancies to African students.

Earlier this month, the Brazilian minister of Education, Fernando Haddad, had already anticipated that the university is going to be installed in the city of Redenção, state of Ceará, chosen for having been the first to abolish slavery in Brazil.

According to the Ministry of Education, courses will be offered in health, physics, biology, technology, engineering, administration and agronomy, all of which are areas of interest to African countries.

The foreigners are going to study in Brazil, as well as in hubs installed in the CPLP nations (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Prí­ncipe, and East Timor).

The aim of the segmentation, according to the ministry, is to encourage students to return to their countries of origin.

The first exam should be held in the second half of 2009. Prior to that, however, the project for establishing the Unilab has to be approved by the Legislative.

ABr