Government prohibits distance learning for law and health courses

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed this Monday that prevents the offer of distance learning courses (EAD) in the areas of Law, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Psychology.

According to information presented by the Ministry of Education (MEC), these courses will have to be offered exclusively in the face -to -face modality.

Other health and undergraduate courses may not be offered at a distance, but may adopt the “semi -presential” format, according to the MEC. The sport is already offered by companies in the sector such as Kroton (Krot3), Cogna (COGN3), and YDUQS (YDUQ3).

Read more: MEC defines new rules for distance learning courses: what changes with a new decree for the sector

“When creating the semi -presential model, we are diversifying formats and expanding the opportunities so that students can choose that model that best fits their profile, without neglecting the quality that should be guaranteed in any of them,” the folder said.

There will be two years of transition to gradual adaptation of the courses, according to MEC.

“What we are doing here is to define what courses can be done in person, semi -presential and distance, ensuring quality and infrastructure necessary for our students,” said Education Minister Camilo Santana, during a ceremony for signing the decree alongside Lula, as published on his social network.

“We believe that EAD can provide the student with an experience as rich as that of other courses, as long as there is an effective commitment of all to the teaching and learning process,” he added.

Among the education companies listed in the Brazilian scholarship, YDUQS shares rose 3.12% and cogna retreated 0.95% in the afternoon trading session, while Ibovespa advanced 0.54%.

BTG Pactual analysts said that, although already expected and despite the transition period for complete implementation, the new structure should be negative for companies in the sector.

“This increases faculty costs in a segment that has historically been difficult to pass on cost inflation to tuition. It is not necessary to say that the more-exposed players to distance learning should be more affected than others,” analysts Samuel Alves and Yan Cesquim said in a report on Monday.

The BTG duo also noticed that listed players have a relatively higher market share in the distance learning segment compared to face -to -face – currently they have 32% participation in face -to -face courses against 67% in EAD.

“As a result, in addition to higher costs, the most focused players in distance learning can face challenges to keep part of their student base over time. For players with Limited EAD segment, such as Anima, changes can be as limited that they can, after all, benefit the company relatingly.”

The actions of Aneima (Anim3) and the Being Educational Group (Seer3), which are not in Ibovespa, rose 2.11% and 4.28%, respectively.