The aim of this article is to examine the educational proposals of national industrialists for Brazilian educational policy. It is argued that their educational proposals are part of a project of economic development and that they were incorporated into the federal government agenda during the 1990s. The sources used are documents of the National Confederation of Industry (Conferência Nacional da Indústria) and the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo), as well as speeches and notes by key-persons of these institutions published in Brazilian journals.
national industrialist; economic development; industrial competitiveness; education and competitiveness