Affirmative action policy boosts disabled student numbers

After five years of failed attempts, student Renato Xavier de Oliveira finally managed to get into a public university this year, relying on an affirmative action policy for disabled people established by the federal government in 2016 to achieve the feat, writes Jairo Marques for Folha de S.Paulo.

A survey conducted by Folha de S.Paulo revealed that approximately 1,500 students who, like Renato, are impaired with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities or autism and have studied in public schools their entire lives, are managing to get into federal universities through affirmative action.

Even though the number of students who got into universities through affirmative action corresponds to less than 20% of the 8,000 vacancies offered to students with disabilities, it is believed that the group has never had as much representation in federal higher education institutions at any given time.
Full report on the Folha de S.Paulo site