O Ministério da Agricultura, Indústria e Comércio e a expansão do Ensino Profissional (1909-1930)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the actions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce for the expansion of agricultural, industrial and commercial professional schools from 1909 to 1930. The time cut was assigned taking into consideration the organization of the Ministry. The Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce was created through Decree No. 1,606 of December 29, 1906, but was only organized and installed through Decree No. 7,501 of August 12, 1909. During the period 1909 and 1930, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce had among its attributions the development of policies for professional education in these branches. They were constituted as research questions: What kind of schools were created more frequently and how did they expand? What influenced the creation of these schools? And, how were the professional schools linked to the Ministry distributed throughout the Brazilian territory? To answer such questions, the mapping and analysis of sources in the aforementioned period was carried out. The methodology consists of documentary analysis according to Arostegui (2006) and is based on the indicator method according to Ginzburg (1989). The documentary research was conducted in the annual reports of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, presented by the Ministers to the President of the Republic, made available virtually by the Center for Research Libraries. The theoretical framework is based on Manfredi's (2003) conception of professional education, is part of the political history dimension according to Rémond (2003) and in the field of the History of Professional Education according to Ciavatta (2015; 2019). Through the analysis of sources it can be seen that the Ministry created and financed agricultural, industrial and commercial schools. The schools were distributed throughout the country, but there was a concentration in the central region of Brazil. Two schools served as models for the organization of education and deserve to be highlighted: in agricultural education the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and in industrial education the Wenceslau Braz Normal School of Arts and Crafts. As far as commercial education is concerned, it was realized that no school was created, but the Ministry officially regulated commercial education through Decree No. 17,329 of May 28, 1926.