THE CHALLENGES TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF A FEDERAL NETWORK OF PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN BRAZIL

The Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education is consisted of a set of 643 federal units distributed throughout the Brazilian states. Those are institutions that are assuming an educational and social relevance due to its capillarity in the territory, the set of courses at different levels and modalities offered as well as its role in the implementation of governmental programs. Because of the scope of its objectives and the heterogeneity that are comprised faces challenges in terms of the balance between forces of cohesion and dispersion within it. These challenges will be addressed here based on the historical trajectory of the establishment of the network, the identification of its territorial distribution as well as the role of those courses that have assumed a prominent position in this context: teacher training.