Physical Education courses in Brazil: data consolidation from 1995 to 2020

Abstract

The article aims to consolidate data on physical education (PE) training in Brazil from 1995 to 2020. It analyzed the main sources available on these data as well as those used by the scientific literature in the field of PE and built indicators for data extraction establishing as a database the Statistical Synopses of Higher Education, of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira. The results indicate a significant discrepancy between the data from the Statistical Synopses and those from the literature, since a significant portion of the articles that present data on PE courses contain methodological problems, by not indicating the sources, procedures and not using adequate filters to determine the data found. There was an expansion of training in PE in the period, which in 2020 had a higher number of enrollments in distance learning (DL) courses and bachelor's degree programs courses become the majority from 2019. With the creation of distance courses, only the indicator of the number of courses is not the most appropriate to analyze the growth of training, which should be combined with others such as modality, enrollment, and graduation. Since the beginning of the elaboration of the Statistical Synopsis, in 1995, the number of courses and their indicators were increasing, but in 2017 the number of courses and enrollments began to decrease, which may indicate a saturation in the demand for training in PE.