The National Forum on Higher Education ( FNES in its Portuguese acronym) will take place from May 24-26 at the Anísio Teixeira Auditorium of the National Education Council - SGAS 607 Lote 50 – Brasília – DF.

Increasingly, higher education is the focus of discussion throughout society, and is the object of diversified public policies seeking to broaden its scope and quality. At all of these levels, it is evident that discussion should include analyses and proposals linked to education at all levels, and which, moreover, can guarantee greater participation of diverse social actors.

Within this context, it is important to review the functions and role exercised by higher education in the country, as well as the functions and roles of institutions in terms of their capacity to satisfy the knowledge and training the demands resulting from the process of socio-economic, scientific, and technological development; to support the construction of social and economic sustainability; and to foster national sovereignty.

Convoked by the UNESCO International Institute of Higher Education (IESALC), the Regional Conference on Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRES 2008) took place in Cartagena de Indias in June, 2008. The event bought together the education community and official representatives of the governments of 34 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as guests from other continents. Its objectives were to analyze and deliberate upon the reality of and need for carrying out strategic changes in higher education in the region, to prepare higher education for the challenges of social commitment, strategic research, life-long education for all, and regional integration. The Ministry of Education participated in the discussions of CRES 2008, and requested that the National Education Council (CNE, in its acronym in Portuguese) develop a document in order to disseminate the principles launched at CRES 2008 for higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean for the next decade.

The National Education Council, with the support of the Secretariat of Higher Education, will sponsor the National Forum on Higher Education (FNES). The event seeks principally to mobilize and provide support for the participation of the Brazilian delegation at the World Conference on Higher Education (Paris, France, July of 2009) and, based upon this participation, to prepare a preliminary document on higher education, to be discussed at the National Conference on Higher Education in 2010, and to support review of the National Education Plan for the 2011-2020 period. The organizing commission of FNES, composed of six members that are part of the Higher Education Committee, was responsible for developing the Reference Document that provides the initial basis for discussions. Taking into consideration specific factors related to Brazil, the National Forum on Higher Education seeks to reflect on the direction of higher education policy for the next 20 years. To this end, the event should be able to bring together for discussion and by public announcement, the diverse academic or associative entities interested in the theme of higher education. It is hoped that the document resulting from FNES will fulfil the role of a referent in order to discuss higher education at the National Education Conference to be held by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

in its base text, the Higher Education Committee of the National Education Council, taking into consideration the recommendations of CRES 2008, emphasized three thematic areas that merit the special attention of Brazilian public policy, taking into consideration the qualitative transformation of higher education:

- Democratization of access and increased flexibility of training models;
- Improvement of quality and assessment;
- Social commitment and innovation

Source: MEC (www.mec.gov.br)

www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve