Government releases R$ 4 billion to expand full-time vacancies in schools

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed, this Friday (12), the Provisional Measure that creates the Full Time Schools Program. With an investment of BRL 4 billion, the government wants to increase the number of full-time vacancies in basic education schools in the country by 1 million.

The resources will be passed on to states and municipalities so that they can expand enrollments in their education networks. The action is aimed at all federal entities, which must adhere to and agree on goals with the Ministry of Education (MEC).

“There is no country in history that managed to develop without investing in education,” said Lula, highlighting the importance of training the population for the country’s economic development. “So that in a few years time this country owes nothing to anyone in terms of the quality of our people’s education,” she added.

The announcement took place at the Centro de Eventos do Ceará, in Fortaleza. Earlier, Lula visited the Escola de Ensino em Tempo Integral Johnson, also in the capital of Ceará. Full-time schools are those whose school day is equal to or greater than seven hours a day or 35 hours a week.

In the first stage of the program, MEC will establish, together with states and municipalities, targets for full-time enrollment. Resources will be transferred taking into account agreed enrollments, the value of the promotion and equity criteria.

During the event, the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, also announced that the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) will open a credit line and make R$ 2.5 billion available for states and municipalities to build new schools in Brazil. According to him, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) will also make resources available to governors and mayors for the same purpose.

“Full-time school is not just increasing the time, it is welcoming students, it is giving opportunity, it is valuing the teacher and integrating the community”, said Santana.

In the following stages of the Full-Time Schools Program, the MEC will implement technical assistance strategies along with the teaching networks for the adoption of full-time, with a focus on reducing inequalities. Actions are foreseen for the training of educators, curricular guidelines, promotion of innovative projects, stimulation of intersectoral arrangements for prevention and social protection, improvement of infrastructure, in addition to the creation of evaluation indicators and a continuous evaluation system.

The Full-Time Schools Program seeks to enable goal 6 of the National Education Plan (PNE), which establishes the provision of “full-time education in at least 50% of public schools, in order to serve at least 25 % of students in basic education” until 2024. “The Report of the 4th Cycle of Monitoring the Goals of the PNE 2022 shows that the percentage of full-time enrollments in the Brazilian public network dropped from 17.6%, in 2014, to 15.1 %, in 2021”, explained the Presidency.

Mothers Day

During his speech, Lula also recalled that next Sunday (14th) is Mother’s Day in Brazil. “There is nothing more valuable in humanity than a mother,” she said.

Therefore, for the president, it is important that people have valuable gestures for mothers. “You don’t need to give gifts, if you don’t have money, don’t make sacrifices, kiss your mother on the forehead and thank her for being alive. It is important that we go back to being affectionate because Brazil is ceasing to be the country of hate”, said Lula.

*With advisory information

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