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BRICS Long-Term Strategy

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declines in poverty (from 16.4 per cent in 1995 to 4.7 per cent in 2009) and 

reduced inequality by more than 10 per cent in the same period. The decrease in 

poverty and inequality in Brazil has not come solely as a result of the introduction 

of the conditional cash transfer programme 

Bolsa Familia

. The reduction has also 

been a result of employment creation, continuing increases in the minimum wage, 

and the wide distribution of social security benefits, which are, in turn, indexed 

to the minimum wage. 

Russian Federation has since the 1990s been very successful in reforming its 

soviet era social protection system to one which today covers a larger proportion 

of it citizens. Financed through federal and regional budgets the intention 

of Russian social policy is to improve the health of the population and improve 

life expectancy, to increase the minimum wage to sustainable levels, address the 

problem of old age poverty and to structurally and technologically modernize 

health care, education and other social spheres, making quality services accessible 

to the public. (Government of the Russian Federation, 2008) Today Russian 

citizens have access to pension insurance, obligatory health insurance, unemployment 

insurance, occupational accident and disaster insurance, disability insurance and 

social payments for maternity and child care, some of which were previously 

unavailable. (ISSA,2013). There is also tax relief, housing subsidies, free public 

transportation and other benefits for people with low incomes. According to the 

Federal State Statistics Service (2010) social insurance programmes now cover 

the majority of the country’s population of 142 million. In particular, over 38 

million retirees are covered by pension insurance; over 130 million people by 

obligatory health insurance; and the total working population, over 72 million 

people, by other types of social insurance programmes (Federal State Statistics 

Service, 2010).

India also has a number of large national social assistance programmes 

implemented at both the central and state levels. There are three distinct types of 

programmes: 

i

) labour market/microcredit programmes designed to provide food 

for work and generate employment for able-bodied people, especially in rural 

areas; 

ii

) a food-for-work programme; and 

iii

) employment assurance schemes. 

There are also welfare programmes for specific vulnerable groups such as the 

elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant or lactating mothers. These include a 

food distribution system providing subsidised rice to poor people, and a mother 

and child protection scheme, as well as one that provides housing for poor people 

(Ministry of Rural Development (India), n.d.).

China has a social assistance system that comprises the following: a minimum 

livelihood guarantee system which covers urban and rural residents whose per 

capita income is lower than the local minimum living standards; a five-guarantee 

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scheme which is a type of welfare scheme for widows, people with disabilities and 

orphans in rural areas that provides basic livelihood and funeral expenses; and 

medical assistance systems that cover families in rural areas suffering from serious 

illness affecting their basic livelihoods, and whose individual medical expenses are 

unaffordable. In urban areas, the medical assistance system covers family members 

suffering from serious illnesses that affect their basic livelihoods, and the assistance 

method combines direct relief aid payments with a waiver of some medical costs 

(Juwei, 2010). 

With just over 16 million recipients as of the end of January 2013, out of an 

estimated population of over 50 million people (Statistics South Africa, 2014a), 

South Africa’s social assistance system is one of the most comprehensive in the 

developing world. It is wholly made up of social assistance and comprises grants 

that provide guaranteed monthly cash payments to targeted individuals, essentially 

children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

1.2 Education

Following the Fortaleza Summit, the BRICS nations have decided to expand 

their focus to social development issues. A key step was the formal commitment 

to strengthen their cooperation in education at a ministerial level. In addition, 

the Ministers of Education from the BRICS nations have agreed to work with 

UNESCO to support progress in education through coordinated actions and 

advocacy. This agreement was reached at the 37th Session of UNESCO’s General 

Conference in Paris on 6 November 2013.

The priority areas identified for BRICS-UNESCO cooperation were data 

collection, learning assessments, technical education and training, and the use of 

information and communication technology (ICT) in education (UNESCO Press, 

2013). In addition the Ministers agreed to strengthen linkages among BRICS 

universities. The collaboration with UNESCO is also meant to accelerate progress 

in attaining the Education for All (EFA) goals, which relate to the following issues 

(UNESCO, n.d.):

•  expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, 

especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; 

•  ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls in difficult circumstances 

and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free 

and compulsory primary education of good quality; 

•  ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are 

met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills 

programmes; 

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•  achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, 

especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing 

education for all adults; 

•  eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 

2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a 

focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic 

education of good quality; and 

•  improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence 

so that recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, 

especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

With respect to domestic law and policy, Brazil has a National Education 

Plan for 2014-2024; Russia launched its national project Education in 2005, which 

provides a framework for development in education; in India there is the Twelfth 

Five-Year Plan for 2012-2017; China has a National Plan for Medium- and Long-term 

Education Reform and Development for 2010-2020; and in South Africa there is 

the National Development Plan Vision 2030 (2011). 

Common policy areas relate to expanding pre-primary and higher education, 

and are concerned with reducing inequalities and adopting use assessment systems 

to deal with improving cognitive and social competencies. The BRICS nations are 

also prioritising early childhood development (ECD) programmes.

For higher education, all BRICS nations commit to developing competitive 

higher education institutions. In this regard there is clear commitment to two 

areas: providing access to the majority of youth to graduation, and promoting 

high-level institutions of learning and research that can enhance the economy 

through innovation and productivity. Brazil plans to increase the gross enrolment 

ratio in higher education to 50 per cent of the population aged 18-24 and the 

net enrolment ratio to 33 per cent by 2020. High targets are planned for 2020 

related to the awarding of masters- and doctorate-level degrees (Brazil Ministry 

of Education, 2014). 

The MDGs for education focused on achieving universal primary education. 

In relation to the net enrolment in primary education, using the data as provided 

by the UN Inter-Agency and Expert Group (UN IAEG) on the MDGs, the BRICS 

nations have fared well. Table 5 presents their results using the most recent data 

collected. The indicator is calculated by identifying the total number of learners 

enrolled in primary school divided by the total age-appropriate population of 

school-going children. 

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TABLE 5 

Total net enrolment ratio in primary education

Country

Year

Both sexes

Boys

Girls

Parity index

Brazil

N.D.

92.5

92.6

92.4

1.00

China

2013

99.7

99.7

99.7

-0.02

India

2003

90.8

92.2

89.2

0.97

Russian Federation

2012

97.2

96.6

98.0

1.01

South Africa

2012

90.5*

90.3*

90.7*

1,00

N.D = no data.
Sources:  China, India, Russian Federation and South Africa: United Nations Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Millennium. 

Development Goals (2014). Indicators and Millennium Development Goal Indicators Database.

Brazil: IGBE (N.D.), population aged 6-14 years, in elementary school

.

According to the UN IAEG, South Africa achieved an estimated 90.5 per 

cent net enrolment of both genders. The strongest performing BRICS nation 

is the Russian Federation, which achieved 97.2 per cent net enrolment and 

had a slightly higher percentage of females enrolled than males in 2012. The net 

enrolment rate in primary education in China reached 99.81 per cent in 2014, with 

99.7 per cent for boys and 99.8 per cent for girls (China Education Development 

Statistics Bulletin 2014 from Ministry of Education of PRC). 

The literacy rates indicator (see table 6) is calculated by determining the 

percentage of the population aged between 15 and 24 years who can both read 

and write with a short statement on everyday life (UN IAEG, 2014). These data 

are disaggregated by gender, allowing researchers to identify if there are gender 

inequalities related to literacy. The best performing nations in respect of this indicator 

are China and Russia, achieving a 99.6 per rate literacy rate in 2010. Data collected 

in 2006 indicate that India achieved a rating of 88.4 per cent, with 14 per cent fewer 

literate females than males. Russia, South Africa and Brazil each performed similarly 

well in achieving 99.7 per cent, 98.9 per cent and 98.6 per cent, respectively.

TABLE 6 

Literacy rates of 15-24-year-olds, both sexes, percentage

Country

Year

Both sexes

Boys

Girls

Parity index

Brazil

2012

98.6

98.2

99.0

1.0

China

2010

99.6

99.7

99.6

1.0

India

2006

81.1

88.4

74.4

0.8

Russian Federation

2010

99.7

99.7

99.8

1.0

South Africa

2012

98.9

98.5

99.3

1.0

Sources:  United Nations Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Millennium Development Goals (2014). Indicators and Millennium 

Development Goal Indicators Database.

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The BRICS nations believe that the collaboration with UNESCO will assist 

in achieving the EFA goals and in informing the post-2015 SDG agenda (South 

African Government News Agency, 2013).

The BRICS nations are promoting student exchanges. China and India regularly 

send the largest number of students beyond their borders to study. The Russian 

Federation and Brazil similarly also have a number of students who study abroad. 

In addition, Brazil attracts students from Latin America and Portuguese-speaking 

areas of Africa. The Russian Federation has established the People’s Friendship 

University, which spearheads the initiative to create a BRICS Network University 

to link higher education academic institutions across BRICS. 

1.3 Health

The BRICS Ministers of Health have committed to work 

“

nationally, regionally, and 

globally to ensure that universal health coverage is achieved” (BRICS, 2013a; McKee et 

al., 2014). The goal of universal health coverage among BRICS countries is to ensure 

that citizens have health coverage in a publicly financed health system. This system 

will provide financial protection and equitable access to adequate health care services. 

Health expenditure varies substantially among the BRICS countries, depending on 

the measure used. Using health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP, BRICS 

countries rank (from highest to lowest) as follows: Brazil, South Africa, Russia, China 

and India (see figure 3). However, when health expenditure per capita was measured 

in the same year, the rankings differed slightly: Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and 

India. Brazil increased its health expenditure significantly between 2004 and 2012, 

with an increase greater than 2 percentage points from 7.1 per cent to 9.3 per cent.

FIGURE 3

Total expenditure on health as percentage of GDP (2000-2012)

0

2

4

6

8

10

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

South Africa

Brazil

Russian Federation

India

China

Source: WHO National Health Accounts Database.