During a visit to the construction site of the new headquarters of the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, the president pointed out that “this country cannot continue to allow its geniuses to be trained abroad and to work abroad if we can train them here and offer them work here.”

He pointed out that there are questions about the expenses in building this college and apartments, but everything “brings a beneficial result for the people, for the municipality, for the State.”

Lula noted that for the Union it is an investment and not an expenditure. “There is no cheaper investment than investing in education. Education is going to guarantee that this country will be what the people have dreamed of for so long,” he reiterated.

Located in the port region of Rio, IMPA’s new headquarters will house the institute’s first graduation course.

Students will be selected on the basis of their performance in the Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad. The course will begin in 2024, with 100 openings.

In his speech, Lula also criticized the previous Government which, in his assessments, did not contribute to education.

“It is not acceptable that a joyful country, that likes music, that likes to dance, that has such wonderful and joyful people vote for a liar (in allusion to former President Jair Bolsonaro), for a guy who told 11 lies a day,” he denounced.

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