Lula government blocks R$ 116 million from Capes budget

The Lula government blocked R$116 million from the budget of Capes, an agency within the Ministry of Education responsible for master’s, doctorate and post-doctoral scholarships. The information was confirmed by the president of Capes, Mercedes Bustamante during a meeting with the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science.

Of the R$116 million, R$50 million was foreseen for the Programs and Scholarship Directorate, R$36 million for basic education teacher training programs and R$30 million for the International Relations directorate. To make matters worse, the entity’s budget is expected to be even smaller in 2024, with a cut of R$128 million, compared to 2023. The total budget forecast for the entity in 2023 was R$5.5 billion.

The National Forum of Deans of Research and Postgraduate Studies (FOPROP) published an open letter to the Ministry of Education this past Wednesday (11). For the institution, the cuts “directly impact the quality of training for masters and doctors, thus harming the production of scientific knowledge and the ability of Brazilian higher education institutions to compete internationally in the field of research and innovation”.

The largest budget allocated to Capes was in 2015, worth R$7.4 billion. At the time, the federal government was commanded by President Dilma Rousseff (PT), who allocated a large part of the resources to the Science without Borders program. In March, the People’s Gazette showed that, according to an analysis published on the United Nations University website, the results of the program were a failure.