On Wednesday (13), the Committee on Education and Culture approved the Bill 3891/08, from the Executive Power, which creates the Federal University for the Luso-Afro-Brazilian Integration (Unilab), aiming at qualifying human resources to develop the integration between Brazil and the other countries of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CLPL), especially Africans.

The courses of Unilab will be preferentially ministered in areas of mutual interest to Brazil and to the other countries of CLPL, and will emphasize themes related to teachers’ and professors’ qualification, agrarian development, management and public-health processes, among others.

That new university should focus its actuation on international cooperation and on academic exchange, with professors and students coming from all countries of that community. Its headquarters will be located in Redenção, in Ceará, the first Brazilian city to have freed all its slaves, in 1883. That city has currently around 26,000 inhabitants.

CPLP’s members are Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Saint Thomas and Principe and East Timor.

New name
The committee approved the review of its rapporteur, Deputy Antônio Carlos Biffi (PT-MS), who introduced two amendments: the first one changes the name of the future institution to University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, and the second clarifies the legislation applied to the effective positions of professor of the carrier of higher mastership, and of administrative technician.

The professors will comply with the provisions of Law 11.344/06, which restructured several careers in the federal government’s sector, among them the one of mastership of higher education. And the administrative technicians will comply with Laws 10.302/01 (remunerations of servants of Federal Education Institutions) and 11.091/05 (Career Plan for Positions of Administrative Technicians in Education).

The amendment proposed by the Committee on Labor, Administration and Civil Service, which included environmental education among the preferential courses of that university, was rejected.

Its rapporteur, Biffi, said he believes Unilab will fulfill its objective by strengthening the links of Afro-Brazilian lusophony.

Procedure
The bill has already been approved by the Committee on Labor, Administration and Civil Service, and will be now analyzed, in conclusive character, by the committees on Finances and Taxation; and on the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.

Report - Luiz Claudio Pinheiro
Editing - Wilson Silveira
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda