When I founded SEDA more than a decade ago, I was certain of one thing: international education transforms lives in a way that no other learning environment can.
But something was missing. Recognition was lacking.
For many years, exchange programs were seen only as a cultural experience—valuable, yes, but without the academic weight they deserve.
That’s why the PNEI—National International Internship Program—was born.
Not as a product, but as a response to an old problem: how to get Brazil to officially recognize what the whole world already knows—that living and learning abroad develops skills that no classroom alone can offer.
The approval of Law 14.913/2024, which allows exchange programs to be validated as curricular internships, opened a door that had been locked for decades.
And we decided to walk through that door first.
As CEO of SEDA, I have always believed that knowledge gains strength when it connects to practice.
The PNEI does just that: it integrates technical study, international experience, and supervised practical application.
Students don’t just learn English—they learn to solve real problems, work with people from different cultures, adapt, and think globally.
It’s an internship that takes place in the world.
This program also marks a new chapter in SEDA’s relationship with Brazil.
We are uniting universities, municipalities, and young people around a project that goes far beyond language: it’s professional training, it’s broadening horizons, it’s a concrete opportunity for global competitiveness.
I have followed thousands of students over the years.
I’ve seen young people arrive insecure, afraid of the unknown, and return confident, mature, and ready to take their place in the market.
Now, for the first time, this transformation can be recognized in documents, in resumes, in academic life, and that changes everything.
The PNEI is not about traveling. It’s about qualifying Brazil through an education that crosses borders.
I always say that true innovation in education lies not in technology, but in the courage to break old paradigms.
And transforming exchange programs into internships is exactly that: a new way of looking at learning, aligned with the future and what the world demands of tomorrow’s professionals.
If you are a student, public manager, or representative of an educational institution, this is the time to act. We are building something that can redefine Brazil’s role in the global education landscape.
And, like every great movement, it begins like this: with a bridge built between what already exists and what we can still become.
