Learning from Parents and Students to Improve Education In Brazil 

This study is focused on low- to moderate-income families in Brazil; however, this is just a starting point. Low- to moderate-income (LMI) families represent two-thirds of the Brazilian population and an even greater share of the student population.
Our incoming hypothesis to this investigation was that this segment is among the most underserved by current educational offerings and yet has increasing willingness and capacity to pay for educational products and services. Omidyar Network and Fundação Lemann seek to dramatically improve the learning outcomes of lower- and middle-income students—and thus we hope to better inform innovations that target these segments. We also strongly believe that research focused on the needs of LMI families is applicable globally, and yet it is implausible to write a “global” report on the topic. Thus, we start this investigation with Brazil as it is the largest market in Latin America. Brazil has shown significant capacity for improved learning outcomes and has a vibrant and committed community of education reformers and innovators in both the public and private sector. We invite similar parent- and student-centric education research on LMI families in other markets

Key findings

• ​A majority of LMI parents have some decision-making authority over which school their child attends; however, they have a limited ability to evaluate school quality
• The vast majority of LMI parents think that out-of-school educational offerings are important, but relatively few participate today
• Education decisions, both regarding schools and out-ofschool offerings, are significantly impacted by financial and logistical access barriers
• Despite the potential of technology to offer lower-cost solutions in safer places (e.g., at home), it is still largely untapped as an educational tool to serve LMI families 

More inforamtion about the report can be found at Omidyar Network homepage