Introduction

The aim of this study is to make a comparative analysis of the expansion of secondary education and of the access to this level of education in the Brazilian states of Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe in the period from 1942 to 1961. The initial point for this historical research was defined as the approval of the Organic Law of Secondary Education (Lei Orgânica do Ensino Secundário, through the legislative decree Decreto-Lei no. 4244 of April 9, 1942) in 1942, and the ending point as the approval of the Law of Guidelines and Foundations of National Education (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional, Lei no. 4024 of December 20, 1961) in 1961.

Aiming to obtain the largest possible number of sources on secondary education in the states investigated here, the following sources were identified: statistical yearbooks of Brazil, statistical summaries on secondary schools, demographic censuses, educational legislation, governmental communications, reports of secretaries of education, administrative and pedagogical documentation, and articles published in the periodical press and student newspapers, among others. However, in this study, prominence was given to statistical sources, recognizing the limitations that the choice of this type of data represents in terms of comparison, but also the relevance of reflecting on actions involving secondary education in the period based on this type of source.

Therefore, as the statistical data were fundamental in preparing this study, it is necessary to recognize the limits and possibilities that they present. These limits begin even in the process of filling out forms for recording the information. Regarding this aspect, ^{Deblé (1976}, p. 177) describes the process of production of educational statistics and characterizes it as follows, indicating the limits of this systematic:

the census official entrusts the teacher or principal of the teaching establishment with answering the questionnaire, providing him/her with all necessary explanations. The validity of the information collected thus depends on two factors: the professional awareness of the census official, who should not omit isolated schools or those of difficult access, and the professional awareness and competence of the educator in charge of responding to the numerous items on the form. In fact, there does not seem to be the possibility of control over the information received.

Consequently, the first limit comes from the very organization of the survey, from its conception up to its application, as well as confirmation of the data received. Furthermore, we recognize, along with ^{Gil (2019}), the role of statistics as an integral part of construction of realities, of “ways of seeing the world” as representations. We also recognize that this places a logic of classification in the questionnaires that structures the information to be considered for the survey conducted. ^{Bourdieu (2020}, p. 21) leads us to reflect on this logic when he inquires: “What does it mean to classify? What is classification when dealing with the social world?” Thus, looking at the way the forms are constructed helps provide a perspective on the source we are working with to make comparisons.

With a view directed toward statistics on primary education, C. ^{Souza (2011}, p. 205) highlights how the production of numbers on education also allows efforts of “internal” understanding - in states, regions, or provinces - and “external” understanding - among countries, whether on the same continent or of the same category, as well as in relation to other nations considered “more” or “less” developed. Our challenge consists precisely in working with these statistics in an “internal” perspective, with an analysis of six states of Brazil regarding the expansion of secondary education in the time period proposed. R. Souza (2019, pp. 37-38) indicates the need for studies about governmental policies in expansion of secondary education and emphasizes:

Studies of this perspective should observe a critique of statistics as a discourse and strategy of power, as well as look at regional and demographic differences, the problem of economic and educational development, and the diverse modalities of schools offering the lower secondary education course, especially the teacher training schools.

In our specific case, the statistical sources, with their due critique, allow us to draw near the public involved in secondary education in different spaces of Brazil, considering local features, through the issues imposed by educational legislation in dialogue with public policies directed toward this educational level. However, in the present text, through the use of statistics, we were not able to consider issues belonging to each state, or perhaps to each municipality or educational institution, with its subjects, daily challenges, and even elements of the material school culture. Such issues can be integrated in other studies that focus on different aspects of secondary education from diverse angles and with the use of different documental sources, or studies that refer to the historiography developed in the states analyzed in a more specific manner. We used statistical data, even considering their limits, because, as ^{Dubet inquires (2015}, p. 28),

Even if it is clear that this material is constructed, do I use it because there is no other option, in human sciences and in sciences in general? How many investigations impose extensive preliminary observations on the reader to deconstruct the available data to then, in the end, use them like everyone else and take them seriously?

Furthermore, the role that the elaboration of statistics has on the action of state control and planning must be emphasized. ^{Senra (2008}, p. 35) refers to the place of statistics in state action as follows:

States have (nearly) always wanted to enumerate, measure, quantify their populations, their riches, their resources; they wanted statistics. In the beginning with a view to wars, for tax assessment and recruiting; then, beyond that, with a view to legislating and administering numerous aspects of public and private spheres. Over time, the demand for statistics diversified and grew in sophistication in a continuous and intense movement.

Working with statistics, we aim at constructing a comparative history of education. R. ^{Souza (2013}, p.11) considers comparative history important and pertinent through contributing to deeper knowledge and understanding of education in Brazil. “Regional studies (encompassing locations and states) made unique and specific features emerge. However, generic syntheses, juxtapositions, or summations of regional studies should not be expected from comparison.”. Comparative history should be used with a view toward establishing dialogue among regional histories, thus allowing contrasts, connections, and approaches to be identified. It is in that perspective that the present study guides the analysis of some aspects of secondary education.

In this study, we focus on the categories of “expansion of schooling” and “access” to secondary education using three modes of analysis: creation of educational institutions, enrollment, and conclusion of the course of studies in the states compared here, namely Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe.

1. The political organization of the states as an element for understanding the expansion of secondary education

It is important to observe the internal division of the states analyzed, in terms of municipalities; it is fundamental to understand that the expansion of secondary education also results from the local history and from the rise and consolidation of municipalities. This division in 1940, 1950, and 1960 had the configuration shown in Table 1.

It should be emphasized that the creation of new municipalities has a direct impact on the demand for creation of new educational units, which also includes secondary education. It is a spatial development, with reverberations in the educational environment, in construction of buildings, hiring of teachers, enrollment of students, and even the creation of a local educational management system different from that which existed when the space was still part of another municipality. Over the period analyzed, there was an increase of 162 municipalities, considering all the states analyzed, reconfiguring the political-administrative organization of these states, which ended up generating the need for expansion of the school network of secondary education for the governing seats of the new municipalities, especially in locations where this level of schooling did not exist before. However, we highlight that the increase in the number of municipalities in the states analyzed occurred in a quantitatively differentiated manner. We observe that while the number of municipalities in Bahia grew by 29.33%, this growth in Maranhão was 40%; in Pará, 13.20%; in Piauí, 51.06%; and in Sergipe, 47.61%. Unlike the other states, Rio Grande do Norte practically doubled the number of its municipalities, with 42 in 1940 and 83 in 1960, an increase of 97.61%. This is an indication of the urbanization process the region passed through, even considering that most of these locations consisted of small municipalities, often being created as a result of the political activity of local leaders. Debates regarding the minimum conditions for a collective group to achieve its territorial emancipation and autonomy intensified in the 1950s and 1960s, reaching its high point soon after the Constitution of 1988. In 1940 there were 1574 municipalities in Brazil; in 1950, 1889; and in 1960, 2766 (^{FERRARI, 2016}). The wave of emancipation of the municipalities occurred as of 1940, with the creation of a shared tax system that favored the poorest. Introduced in the “Constitution of 1946, the allotments were equal for all the municipalities. Thus, the state governments stimulated the creation of new municipalities to attract new resources of the federal government to the state” (MELLO, 1971 apud FERRARI, 2016, p.57). It is also necessary to look at the territorial extension of each one of these states, because they are quite disparate, as we can see in Table 2.

As we see in Table 2, there is variation in the area of the states, brought about by diverse modifications in their delineation over time, with some areas of litigation remaining. It should be noted that this spatial variation is a factor to be considered when analyzing the expansion of secondary education, which does not mean that the state with the greatest territorial extension is the one that most expanded this level of education. The population distribution in the territory and the interest defined by the educational policies predominant in the state must be considered, as well as the force of municipal pressure for the extension of this level of education. In regard to the population per municipality, Table 3 highlights the number of cities in each state analyzed with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants.

The numbers clearly show the expressive increase in cities with population greater than 10,000 inhabitants from 1940 to 1960, which indicates a process of growing urbanization in the states. Except for Bahia, the states have similar numbers of cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants over the period. This concentration of population in locations that form more populous centers in the region ends up affecting the expansion of levels of schooling. This expansion constitutes a component of the degree of development of the location in relation to others, whether in the state itself or in neighboring states. In regard to population, these states had the configuration shown in Table 4.

In the different states analyzed, Bahia and Maranhão stand out in terms of population, and they also have a larger number of cities with population greater than 10,000 inhabitants. Population growth also proved to be variable from one state to another. From 1940 to 1960, Bahia and Maranhão were the most populous states. This growth also extended to the other states, though in lower proportion; Sergipe grew the least in terms of population. The population indicator and the indicator of cities with the largest number of residents create educational demands that affect the establishment of schools for secondary education. Table 5 shows the population numbers in the 10-19 year age range, considered appropriate for the level of schooling analyzed here.

In terms of the population in the 10-19 year age range, the probable age for students to enter in secondary education, Bahia and Maranhão stand out in relation to the other states. In Maranhão, the population in this age range more than doubled in the time interval analyzed, and in Bahia, an increase of 51.09% is observed. In Pará, the growth was 67.89%; in Rio Grande do Norte, 43.71%; in Sergipe, 42.55%; and in Piauí, 54.60%. Another relevant fact is that the growth occurred in a more accentuated manner between 1950 and 1960 in all the states analyzed. Indeed, these numbers lead to the consideration of a gap between the population of school age and the offer of openings in secondary education and the way this was resolved in each state. However, through limitations inherent to the type of data analyzed, this analysis is not developed here. It should be emphasized that over the period analyzed, there was an increase in population of the age of attending secondary school in the different states in focus, which would require expansion in the number of openings and of investments in secondary education.

2. The expansion of secondary school, considering school units, location, and maintaining entities

The population growth in the 10-19 year age range indicates the need for expansion that meets this demand, and it is one factor, among others, of pressure for the creation of openings. ^{Pessanha (2021}, p. 52), in discussing the results of the project from which this text is derived, shows that we need to question the conclusion that population growth directly brought about the increase in enrollment numbers and in establishments of secondary education, since “apparently similar results may have been produced by different processes [and vice-versa] due to the historical, social, and political characteristics of each state/region.”

Mindful of these considerations, in Table 6 we see data on the school units of secondary education available to serve the population in the corresponding age range.

The significant increase in the number of school units from 1942 to 1960 in the states analyzed is noteworthy, a leap from 76 to 338 institutions. Analysis of the growth in the number of schools shows the prominence of Bahia, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe, with a more than fourfold increase in the number of secondary schools. Although growth in Pará and Maranhão was less, the number of secondary school establishments also increased in those states, indicating a process of growth in school openings in all the states analyzed. This follows a national trend in relation to expansion in the offer of this level of schooling.

^{Abreu (2005}) discussed the Brazilian scenario in a study presented in the Inter-American Seminar on Secondary Education that took place in Santiago de Chile in January 1955, and he affirmed that in 1954, Brazil had 1771 establishments of this level of education. In other words, comparison of the Yearbook of 1946, which presented the number of 827 educational establishments of this level, with the study of Abreu (2005) shows a duplication in the number of secondary schools in Brazil from 1945 to 1954.

In closer analysis of the six states investigated here, we observe that in four years, from 1942 to 1946, there was an increase of 34 teaching establishments, and extending this analysis to the time period of this study, the number of teaching establishments practically quadrupled. Thus, it can be inferred that the growth in the number of secondary schools registered in Brazil in a broader way was also present in Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe. In Table 7, we have the distribution of these school units by geographic location, between the capital city and the municipalities outside it.

The strong concentration of secondary education in the capital cities and small number of schools outside them at the beginning of the period analyzed is noteworthy. This situation outside the capital cities does not necessarily coincide with the greater population size of the locations outside the capital, and that indicates the existence of other factors for creation of schools of secondary education beyond the criterion of population. There is a tendency of expansion with greater growth outside the capital already in the 1940s, which increases in later decades.

^{Abreu (2005}) highlights that in this historical period, the offer of secondary education was established in the following manner: the states maintained only one lower secondary education school in the capitals; the municipalities did not invest in this field; and the Federal Government maintained only the Pedro II High School in the Distrito Federal.

^{Amado (1973}) indicates that one of the limits for expansion, even in some capitals, but especially in regard to cities outside the capital, was the lack of teaching professionals for this level of schooling. According to this author, teachers were recruited considering the possibilities of the locations.

We see that in the six states analyzed, in 1942, the state with the largest number of secondary education establishments was Bahia. There was schooling outside the capital in all the states; however, there was a greater presence of secondary education schools in the capitals. In 1946, the expansion of these units to locations outside the capital is consolidated. In 1946, Bahia, Piauí, and Rio Grande do Norte stand out in this development, while Pará, Maranhão, and Sergipe have one or two units of secondary education outside the capital at that time. In 1960, this expansion intensified, and all the states had school units in such locations. Of the states analyzed, Pará least developed secondary schools outside the capital. The school units and the entities that maintained them are shown in Table 8.

In regard to the entities that maintain the schools, the predominance of private teaching institutions, whether religious denominational or lay, and the limited offer from the municipal governments are noteworthy, as well as the absence of the federal government and the gradual growth of offerings from the state governments. Thus, the number of secondary education institutions is larger from private entities (religious denominational or otherwise) compared to the institutions maintained by public authorities, municipal and/or state.

^{Abreu (2005}) presents data related to the maintaining entities in Brazil in 1954, specifically 435 public schools and 1336 private schools. The public schools consisted of 19 federal schools, 348 state schools, and 68 municipal schools.

In regard to the states analyzed here, the first aspect to highlight is the absence of federal institutions of secondary education. A second aspect concerns the fragile presence of the institutions maintained by the municipalities, a total of 4 in 1955, equally distributed between Piauí and Bahia, with this offer being expanded to the other states, except for Maranhão, in the 1960s. Finally, not only the predominant proportion of the private school units is noteworthy, but also the prominence that such teaching establishments had in these states in offering secondary education.

In the time interval proposed here, the states and municipalities maintained 9 institutions in 1945, and the private network was responsible for 58 school units. Fifteen years later, there is a considerable expansion from the public authorities, which come to be directly responsible for 51 school units. In contrast, the number of private establishments undergoes an even greater proportional increase, achieving the mark of 335 and maintaining predominance in private offering of education.

^{Pessanha (2021}) highlights the predominance of the maintaining entities from civil society over the public entities, but observes that already at the end of the 1960s, there is a certain equilibrium. Thus, indications are that this expansion of private school units had perhaps been subsidized by state authorities in the middle of the twentieth century; that is, even though they were not the maintaining entities, public authorities would also be present in this expansion of secondary education. These are questions that still need to be taken up and analyzed, considering each local reality. In line with previous studies, such as ^{Amado (1973}) and R. ^{Souza (2008}), we see that the expansion of educational establishments in the states under analysis also follows the national expansion of the institutions of secondary education, as well as the prominence of the offer in the private network.

In the First Republic, a network of Catholic schools was created, which expanded in the 1940s to 1960s. The predominance of these educational institutions in the states investigated, as in others states in Brazil, represented restoration of the power and prestige of the Catholic Church in Brazilian society, which was reestablished after 1930 (^{GONCALVES, 2017}). The fiscal and financial incentives received from public authorities were fundamental for setting up and expanding Catholic secondary education.

The Organic Law of Secondary Education, directed by the Secretary of Education Gustavo Capanema Filho, in effect from 1942 to 1961, determined the division of secondary education in two cycles: 1st Jr. High School Cycle (lower secondary education), of four years duration; and 2nd High School Cycle (upper secondary education), with classical studies (prioritizing the humanities) and scientific studies (emphasizing exact sciences), distributed over three years. In addition, there were Technical Education (commercial, agricultural, industrial) and Teacher Training (normal school) courses.

In the states analyzed, the biggest offer was in lower secondary education (jr. high school) courses. Bahia had the greatest contingent of courses of this nature, followed by Piauí, Pará, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, and Maranhão. Many lower secondary schools were created in the period analyzed here to meet the demand of young people of school age. There were few upper secondary schools (high schools), as can be seen in Table 10. Most of them were in Bahia and, in fewer number, in Pará, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhão, and Piauí. Thus, in the states analyzed, the expansion of secondary education mainly occurred through the creation of lower secondary education schools, as shown in Table 9.

The biggest offer is of lower secondary education, indicating that the expansion mainly occurred through this level. These data dialogue with the numbers of Brazil, since ^{Chaloba, Dallabrida and Pessanha (2021}, p. 8) show how “enrollment in the lower secondary education course grew much more than in the upper secondary course, and the duality between secondary education of general formation and the branches of technical education - industrial, commercial, and agricultural - remained up to the Law of Guidelines and Foundations of 1961.” In the states in focus, the number of lower secondary school units increased from 89 to 240, showing that the lower secondary schools more than doubled from the 1940s to 1960s. The differences in this expansion in each state should be noted. In the case of Pará, there was a reduction in the number of lower secondary schools, whereas Rio Grande do Norte nearly doubled the number of these establishments. The data from Maranhão and from Piauí show a certain uniform growth, where the establishments with lower secondary education approximately tripled, unlike Bahia and Sergipe, which were able to increase their lower secondary school network by around four times in the time period under analysis. Table 10 presents the upper secondary (high school) courses of these states.

Even with a pace of growth lower than the lower secondary courses, there was growth in upper secondary courses in the states analyzed, as can be seen in Table 10. This growth occurred in a more intense way in Bahia, in Piauí, and in Rio Grande do Norte. In Sergipe and in Pará, the growth was moderate; the former maintained the number of upper secondary courses that existed in 1945.

3. Enrollment and course conclusions in secondary education

According to Table 11, in the states analyzed, there was greater expansion in the number of enrollments in the capital cities compared to outside of them. Although Bahia and Pará had the largest number of students enrolled, this expansion can also be perceived in the states of Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe, and Piauí. In 1942, Pará and Sergipe did not have enrollments outside of the capital, indicating a process of expansion of this level of schooling to outside the capital later than that which occurred in the other states that had already instituted establishment of this level of education outside the capital. As of 1960, expansion of enrollments in secondary education was of considerable proportion in the capitals and outside of them.

However, it should be highlighted that even with significant expansion of secondary education in the capital, the growth of this level of education to areas outside the capital was gaining strength. The numbers show an increase of 17,096 enrollments in the establishments of secondary education outside the capital and 14,154 in the capital in an interval of 14 years, which also indicates expansion of access to secondary education in these six states.

Observing state by state in regard to enrollments in the capital cities, we perceive that in 1960 in Pará, Maranhão, Sergipe, and Bahia, the number of enrollments was more than three times greater than in 1947. In Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte, enrollments quadrupled. Directing our attention to areas outside the capital, the numbers are even more expressive. Pará and Sergipe did not have enrollments beyond the capital in the 1940s, and they came to have more than 1000 enrolled in 1960. Bahia stood out with an increase greater than 17 times the initial number, and Maranhão, which had 199 students enrolled, rose to a little more than 2000. More moderate growth outside the capital can be seen in Piauí, with around sevenfold growth in the number of enrollments in the time period, and in Rio Grande do Norte, where the number of students quintupled.

^{Abreu (2005}) shows that in 1954 there were 535,777 students enrolled in secondary education, with 459,489 in lower secondary education and 76,286 in upper secondary education. The numbers confirm the concentration of students enrolled in lower secondary education; moreover, of these students, we find that more than 50% were enrolled in the first two grades of this 1st cycle of secondary studies.

The author presents other relevant data regarding the enrollments and the maintaining entities; namely, Brazilian public schools had 143,465 students, which represents 26.8% of the total enrollments, and they were divided into 19 federal schools (6500 enrollments), 348 state schools (18,208 enrollments), and 68 municipal schools (18,757 enrollments) (^{ABREU, 2005}).

For R. ^{Souza (2008}), the thousands of students enrolled in the lower and upper secondary schools in the middle of the twentieth century were taught to write and speak well, value good authors of literature, and love and exalt their country. Furthermore, they had the practice of Latin declensions and of reading, translation, and writing of foreign languages, two or three; the exercise of mathematical calculations; the placement of value on the art of drawing; the memorization of scientific lessons; and the stimulation to appreciate poetry. And he concludes: “While Brazilian society transformed rapidly, the school held to its traditions” (^{SOUZA, R., 2008}, p. 187).

The Brazilian secondary school is portrayed with a high number of enrollments. In this scenario of growth, how many that entered were able to conclude their secondary education course? The distribution of those concluding between the capital and outside it in the different states in 1942, 1946, and 1960 is shown in Table 12.

As we saw before, the number of enrollments in secondary education grew every year. The conclusion rate, however, is low is relation to the enrollments in the capital cities and outside them in all the states. These data corroborate the assertion of R. ^{Souza (2008}, p. 206) that “[...] a considerable portion of the students concluded only the lower secondary cycle, ending their studies and entering in practical activities or pursuing a second professional training cycle, especially commercial training, in greatest demand by students.” In a similar manner, ^{Nunes (2000}, p. 47) notes that the:

expansion of secondary education favoring private initiative experienced a serious problem: that of the student being eliminated or lagging behind in the regular educational system. The rates of being held back or dropping out remained high in the generations of Brazilians that followed in succession every three years as of 1942. The rates fluctuated around 80%. Thus, only 20% or fewer of the students that entered in the secondary education courses were able to complete their studies without being held back and to leave the lower secondary education institutions by successfully performing entrance examinations.

Considering the capital cities among the states analyzed, Piauí is noteworthy, with the greatest disparity between those enrolled and those concluding. Outside the capital cities, the highest disproportion is in the state of Pará, followed by Sergipe. The state of Rio Grande do Norte had the best proportion of those enrolled and those concluding. Of those enrolled outside the capital city, an average of half concluded the secondary education course.

Conclusions

The results indicate expansion of secondary education in the states of Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe from 1942 to 1961. This expansion was characterized by unequal access to the lower secondary course and upper secondary course because most of the municipalities outside the capital cities only offered the former, with the capital cities concentrating the largest number of establishments with the complete secondary education course; in the states analyzed, there were a smaller number of upper secondary courses. Moreover, the number of students enrolled in secondary education did not correspond to the number of those concluding.

The data show expansion of enrollments in the states researched, both in the capital and outside it. But comparing enrollment numbers with those of conclusion, we find that few students finished their secondary studies. In the course of research, we did not find information regarding drop-out rates and grade retention that contributed to this gap.

In these states, private lay and religious denominational institutions predominated over public institutions. Public secondary education was maintained mostly by state authorities, which conserved establishments of secondary education in the capital city, offering lower secondary and upper secondary courses, although some municipalities outside the capital offered lower secondary courses. There were no federal secondary education establishments.

The results also indicate expansion of secondary education in the states analyzed, considering the marked growth in population, the number of educational establishments, and the number of enrollments and students concluding the courses. We strove to analyze the schools, identifying their location and administrative character, with a view toward understanding the process of growth of secondary schools outside the capital cities. In this process of expansion of secondary education, there were several administrative bodies that offered this educational modality under the Gustavo Capanema Reform, many state initiatives, and initiatives linked to different religious denominations and initiatives of civil society, such as the lower secondary schools set up by the National Free Schools Campaign (Campanha Nacional de Educandários Gratuitos - CNEG). Some aspects related to the states presented here should be highlighted:

Finally, certainly various inquiries remain to be developed and they require integrated analyses to have a greater understanding of how expansion of secondary education occurred in the different states of Brazil in the period of the Gustavo Capanema Reform. These are elements for other studies in the area of history of education regarding an educational level that is currently still faced with many problems and challenges regarding educational institutions, enrollment, and course conclusion.