IJELP Volume 16 199 12 1 Introducton The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the Sar- s-Cov-2 virus, claimed its frst victm in Brazil on 26 March 2020. Ever since that fateful day untl the moment this text is writen (August 2020), more than 100,000 Brazilians have died because of COVID-19, and the daily death toll stands at over 1,000 people. Experience has shown that social isolaton is proven to be the best strategy so far to diminish the spread of COVID-19 among the populaton, especially when combined to other actons like mass testng and contact tracing (COHEN; KUPFERSCHMIDT, 2020). Since schools are places where children from diferent households come together, part of the social isolaton strategy has been to close schools as well. However, closing schools is part of a tempo- rary soluton and, at the same tme, presents other problems. In Brazil, closing schools represents a negaton of public goods far beyond educaton. Schools provide food security, health services and protecton against child abuse. The educatonal system is responsible for securing myriad social rights in Brazil. Furthermore, social isolaton has a tempo- ral limit, and choosing the best moment 1 PhD. Professor of Consttutonal Law at University of São Paulo – USP. E-mail: prof.becak@usp.br. 2 Master of Law, University of São Paulo – USP. E-mail: guicastro@ usp.br. to reopen educatonal facilites demands a thoughout strategy on the part of public authorites. The reopening of schools afer lockdown in a developing country is more complicated than in high-income countries: It is a task which faces a vastly diferent set of circumstances. First, in Brazil, a higher proporton of households include both chil- dren and the elderly. Second, difculties in COVID-19 testng in Brazil make it virtually impossible to control the transmission of the virus between children and adults. Third, enforcing social distancing in existng school setngs is challenging. Therefore, at frst glance, the reopening of schools represents a puzzle without a solu- ton. The closure of schools is a public health imperatve during the pandemic. None- theless, maintaining school closures embeds inequalites, which are already a striking fea- ture of the Brazilian educaton system. The return to school period is also fraught with great uncertainty. 2 The inequality of the Brazilian educatonal system under the COVID-19 pandemic Initally, it is necessary to clarify that although educaton is a public service in Brazil, it is also free to private initatves, according to Art- cle 209 of the Federal Consttuton of 1988. The coexistence of public and private schools Transmission control of COVID-19 and the reopening of schools: A public policy dilemma in Brazil Rubens Becak 1 & Guilherme Castro 2