Starting in February, we will see the implementation of the New High School in 2023. The use of the new High School format began last year, in 2022, with first-year entrants. And the implementation is expected to end in 2024, when the last first-year class will enter the New High School.

There are different opinions about the possible results of changing the structure of high school. Many people agree that the change will generate more knowledge and opportunities for young people to learn and develop. However, just like distance learning, there are those who say that the initiative is good but has negative aspects. Let's talk about that here.

The current Secondary Education, which will be old from 2024 onwards, came into force in 1996, replacing the old Secondary Education. It corresponds to the final stage of Basic Education and is a type of review of previous grades and preparation for Higher Education. It has a curriculum of 800 hours of classes per year divided into 200 school days.

Therefore, these 800 annual hours correspond to the subject schedule according to the BNCC (National Common Curricular Base). Adding these hours over the three years, the student reaches the end of high school with a total of 2,400 hours of basic training classes established by BNCC. This is where the big issue of the New Secondary Education comes in.

According to the rules of the New High School, enrolled students go from having a total of 800 hours of classes per year to a total of 1,000 hours of classes. Therefore, upon completing New High School, the student will have completed a total of 3,000 hours of classes. At first glance, this is much better, as the old one only offered 2,400 hours. But not quite! Understand:

According to the new structure, a total of 1,800 class hours will be allocated to the mandatory subjects of the National Common Curricular Base and the other 1,200 hours are to the Training Itineraries (we will talk about them later). If we look at the numbers, you can see that there has been a reduction in the core curriculum classes required for the entrance exam.

In other words, there is an increase in class hours, but there is a reduction in the teaching of basic subjects to make room for the Training Itineraries. These are the assignments, workshops, study centers and other work situations that students can choose to include in their studies. They are the ones that serve as the basis for the idea of flexibility in the New High School.

To come to the conclusion that something is progress or not, you need to see the results. However, as implementation is still ongoing, it is not possible to say with certainty whether the New High School is a progress or a setback. That said, we can draw some conclusions from the information provided above.

When you create flexibility in teaching aimed at the student's needs and objectives, you transfer a large part of the responsibility to him. What a young person thinks is best for them is not always the best. Is what he wants what will take him where he needs to be?

Another point is that increasing the student's time at school increases the physical and mental demands. Therefore, over time he will start to save energy on what he enjoys least. In other words, between the classes he is forced to attend and the ones he chose to attend, which ones will he dedicate himself to? 

The ones you chose, naturally! They are not necessary for the continuation of your academic journey. In short, you end up creating a way for students to decide their educational life in high school and focus only on working afterwards. When, in fact, you should give him options: to work or to study and develop. By not doing so, the student's power to choose their future was taken away by giving them the right to choose what to study.