A educação nas ondas do rádio: o Sistema radioeducativo nacional na cidade de Leopoldina – MG (1950 – 1962)

Abstract

This paper refers to the study of the National Educational Radio System (SIRENA), established in the city of Leopoldina, Minas Gerais. Considering the Brazilian scenario during the period of industrialization and modernization, the country had a high illiteracy rate, and this fact made it difficult to find qualified labor for the country's development. Thinking of a low-cost alternative that would reach all the masses, especially the lower classes, Rádio Sirena was a radio school conceived in Leopoldina and established together with the Pilot Plan for the Eradication of Illiteracy of the National Campaign for the Eradication of Illiteracy in Brazil (CNEA) in 1958 by the federal government, which aimed to develop educational programs broadcast by stations spread throughout the region. From this perspective, we sought to systematically analyze the historical records of Rádio Sirena and verify its contributions to the educational scenario of the city of Leopoldina. Thus, in this study we will also carry out the historical review that gives it the importance of investigating the paths taken by education in Brazil from the 1950s to 1962. The results of this research demonstrate that, although SIRENA's radio waves reached the rural population with basic education, we cannot say that it fully met the educational needs of this population. The democratization of the education proposal reinforced the inconsistencies of the education system, highlighting social inequality and the limitations of the lower classes in a scenario where qualified labor was a promise for the socioeconomic transformation of the country.