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This review examines the external systems in place to assure the quality of higher education in Brazil. It highlights the relative success of the Brazilian quality assurance model in regulating market entry for private operators in Brazil, which cater to over 70% of students. But it also calls into question the effectiveness of existing systems to monitor the quality of undergraduate programmes and institutions and the ability of public authorities to act decisively to protect students from bad quality education.

The report analyses the systems that regulate the launch of new higher education institutions and programmes and evaluates quality assessment mechanisms for existing programmes and institutions. It also looks at the structures allowing public authorities to intervene to end or improve poor quality provision.

The review offers policy recommendations. It proposes a more differentiated system of quality assurance. It also recommends significant modifications to the design and purpose of the National Examination of Student Performance (ENADE).

This work was requested by the National Commission for Evaluation of Higher Education (CONAES) and CAPES, the federal body responsible for quality assurance and funding of postgraduate education.

The world of work is changing. Digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing are having a profound impact on the type and quality of jobs that are available and the skills required to perform them. To what extent individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult learning systems to help people develop relevant skills for this changing world of work. In Brazil, the speed of population ageing is projected to be significantly faster than what has been experienced by most developed economies. At the same time, increasing integration into the global economy will create new opportunities and propel growth. But it will also affect the content of exports and the stage at which Brazil contributes for Global Value Chains (GVCs). Profound changes in the economy are to be expected in the coming decades. As these changes have not yet fully materialised, Brazilian policy makers have a window of opportunity to prepare for the transformations ahead. This report aims at providing policy recommendations, based on best practices internationally, to prepare the Brazilian adult learning system so that it is ready to support people in acquiring the relevant skills for the future.

Like most OECD countries, Brazil has been taking steps towards digital government to ensure that public policies and services are more inclusive, convenient and designed to meet citizens’ needs. This report takes stock of the progress made by the Brazilian government, based on good practices and principles in OECD countries, and provides recommendations to help Brazil drive its digital transformation of the public sector.

This report contains the 2018 Peer Review Report on the Exchange of Information on Request of Brazil.