São Paulo – The Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty) are registering Brazilians interested in teaching Portuguese and Brazilian culture in Algeria. The process is developed by the Foundation for Improvement of Higher Education Students (Capes), under the MEC, and by the Cultural Department at the Itamaraty. Those interested may register up to November 8th, according to a spokesperson for the Capes. The person selected will teach in Oran University, in northeastern Algeria.

Capes is seeking someone with a master's degree in Portuguese, Brazilian literature or linguistics, with experience in teaching Portuguese to foreigners, as well as speaking French, one of the official languages of the Arab country. The professional will have the right to an airfare and monthly financial aid of US$ 1,500. The University of Oran will be in charge of organising housing for the professor. Capes is analysing the curricula received and pre-selecting them, but it is the Algerian institution that is going to make the final choice, according to the edict for the process.

The minister at the Itamaraty Cultural Department, Jorge Kadri, stated that the evaluation in Brazil is in charge of doctors at the Capes. They should select three people, following the profile requested by the university, and the foreign institution, should then choose among these three people. The professor, according to Kadri, should send regular reports of his activities to the Department of Portuguese Language Promotion, connected to the Cultural Department at the Itamaraty. At the end of three years, according to the will of the university, the contract may be renewed for another two years.

Kadri stated that this process for choosing readers, as professors selected to teach Portuguese and Brazilian culture abroad are called, takes place twice a year. In the edition in progress, professionals will also be chosen to teach in Angola, Bolivia, Slovenia, Guyana, Jamaica and Paraguay. They must all be Brazilian, have experience in teaching Portuguese to foreigners, be fluent in the language of the country where they will go, be at least 18 years old and be up to date with their military obligations.

According to the minister at the Itamaraty Cultural Department, the process normally begins when the university shows interest in the program, and the request is sent through embassies or consulates in the country. The Ministry of Foreign Relations is responsible for the financial assistance to the professor while he is abroad. "The objective is to promote Portuguese and Brazilian culture," stated Kadri.

Oran, in the Mediterranean

The University of Oran, in Algeria, started its activities in 1961 as a medical school. In 1965, already having created other courses, it became a university centre. The institution currently houses the Law, Political Science and Foreign Relations School, the School of Social Science, the Medical School, the School of Economic Sciences and Management, the School of Letters, Foreign Languages and Arts and the School of Humanities and Islamic Civilisation, as well as the School of Land Sciences, Geography and Soil Management. It offers graduate and post-graduate courses.

Oran is the capital of the Algerian province that goes by the same name. The city is on the coast of the Mediterranean and is the main trade and industrial point in the whole of western Algeria. The city is among the ten largest in the country. The government of Brazil has been promoting closer ties with Algeria, not only in the cultural and educational area, but also in the economic sector.