The proportion of young Brazilian students attending secondary education at the right age has doubled compared to that of 1995, disclosing a significant advance in the access to secondary education.

Since 1997, UNESCO Office in Brazil has followed and supported the national actions towards the implementation of secondary education reform. In this progress, the Organization supports the development of public policies that can effectively contribute to the improvement of the educational system in this level through studies, publications, promotion of discussions, and technical cooperation agreements.

UNESCO has tried to sensitize the Brazilian government on the need to diverse structures and expand the offer of Secondary Education, including through:

• use of Communication and Information Technologies (ICT)
• valuing the teaching profession
• teacher education and training to improve their competencies and update their methods
• inclusion of transdisciplinary themes in school curriculum with emphasis on ethical and civic values such as the principles and concepts of human rights, ethics, philosophy, and sustainability
• development of permanent mechanisms of student and school community participation in discussions of school evaluation process, of pedagogical work, and their results

This focuses indicate that the most important is to have a good quality basic education that can permit the permanent process of lifelong learning.