Students from intercultural schools of the Rio de Janeiro state education network acted as the press during a side event of the Culture Working Group held in July. On the occasion, Minister Margareth Menezes gave an exclusive interview to the teenagers.
"Culture saves lives, culture saved my life. It teaches and generates income, as we are experiencing here. It's amazing to have this opportunity, especially for us black girls from the outskirts, who never imagined ourselves in such a position, learning about cultural guidelines and interviewing renowned people," said young reporter Letícia Vieira, who along with other colleagues participated in the coverage of the "Seminar on Policies for the Creative Economy: G20 + Ibero-America," a side event of the Culture Working Group (WG).
The teenager's testimony shows the importance of the theme that was under debate at Casa Firjan, Rio de Janeiro. In addition to the Seminar's program, the venue also hosted the second technical meeting of the Culture Working Group and the launch of the National Creative Economy Policy, named "Brasil Criativo", an important milestone for the sector in the country. Data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) indicate that the creative economy generates revenues of $2.25 billion annually.
On the occasion, the young reporters conducted two very important interviews: with the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes, and with the Ministry's executive secretary, Márcio Tavares.
"We work intensively at the Ministry of Culture to integrate culture in different environments, especially in education. We are partnering with the Ministry of Education to develop projects that bring masters of popular culture, such as guitar and acting teachers, into schools. This is a joint construction, and we expect that these actions will spread throughout Brasil." Stated the minister when the students asked about the culture-education relationship.
A thought that the executive secretary reaffirmed. "The Ministry has a plan that aims to cover all Brasil students and disseminate the creative economy's thinking. Culture is a right for all Brazilians. So, our cultural policies aim to ensure that everyone has access to cultural goods. This makes all the difference in education, to the future of Brasil, and to the development of critical citizenship in our country," he said.
The interviews are on the website of the Secretary of Education for the State of Rio de Janeiro.
The Young Reporter Project emerged to qualify students from bilingual and intercultural schools in the state of Rio de Janeiro as content producers for various media. Among the main coverages are the G20 meetings, as collaborators of Kids 20.
