When first-year high school student Larissa Rodrigues, 17, arrives at Ciep 168 Ilda Silveira Rodrigues, in Nova Iguaçu, in Baixada Fluminense, not even daylight is enough to overcome the darkness that fills the school's corridors in the early morning hours. In the classrooms, the brightness that comes through the windows has replaced electric lighting. On cloudy days, students need to resort to their cell phone flashlights to see the board. This is how classes have been held, improvised, for a month, since criminals stole the school's power cables.
According to data obtained by GLOBO, at least 109 state schools in Rio went without electricity this year due to power cable theft. Some of these schools were in the dark for up to ten months. The problem directly affects the operation of the units, which need to resort to improvised solutions to maintain pedagogical activities. The situation highlights the fragility of school infrastructure in the face of criminal activity.
The case of Ciep 168 in Nova Iguaçu illustrates the impact of these thefts on students' daily lives. Without electricity, schools face difficulties maintaining adequate teaching conditions, harming both students and teachers. The dependence on natural light and students' own mobile devices makes the school environment inadequate for learning.
