The new Minister of Education of the Gairerno de Jair BolsonaroCarlos Alberto Decotelli, who took office on Thursday, stated in his resume that he was a doctor of Administration from the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Statistics of the National University of Rosario, in Argentina. But the person in charge of all Brazilian educational policies from now on, in fact, failed the court qualification exam and, therefore, does not have the course diploma. The information was revealed by the rector of the Argentine university, Franco Bartolacci, on his Twitter account. The then student “presented a written version that was judged unfavorably by the jury; therefore, he was unable to pass on to his oral defense, ”explained the rector to EL PAÍS.
President Bolsonaro presented Decotelli’s resume when announcing his appointment. The current minister was advertised as a technical profile, different from the previous occupant of the portfolio, Abraham Weintraub, linked to the most ideological wing of Bolsonarism. Information about the doctorate appeared in the minister’s resume and also in various federal government publications about the period when he chaired the National Fund for Educational Development, a state body. The title of the thesis defended was “Risk management in the modeling of soybean prices”, and its director was Antônio de Araújo Freitas Júnior, vice-rector of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a private Brazilian institution. In Freitas’ curriculum, the minister’s work does not appear in the list of doctoral theses in which he participated. Nor is it mentioned that he has directed any work at the National University of Rosario. After the repercussion of the case, Decotelli’s CV has been altered: the name of the director has disappeared and it is clarified that the thesis was not defended, only the credits were concluded.
The controversy was unleashed by the rector of the Argentine university. “We see ourselves in the need to clarify that Carlos Alberto Decotelli da Silva has not obtained the doctor’s degree mentioned in this communication at the University of Rosario,” he announced on Twitter. In response, the Ministry of Education refuted the statement and presented a copy of the certificate in which the institution confirms that the minister completed all the subjects. “The Ministry of Education reports that the Minister Carlos Alberto Decotelli da Silva completed, in February 2009, all the credits for the doctorate in Administration from the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Statistics of the National University of Rosario, in Argentina,” says the note. of the ministry.
