MEC will charge Tarcísio government to use purchased books – 08/04/2023 – Education

The decision of the Tarcísio de Freitas government (Republicans) to abandon, starting next year, the textbooks of the federal program was not preceded by technical studies or dialogue with administrators and teachers and could cause confusion in the largest public education network: part of the students will continue to receive conventional works.

according to Sheet As it turned out, the decision to abandon the PNLD (National Textbook Program) for students from 6th to 9th grades as of 2024 is exclusively attributed to the Secretary of Education of São Paulo, Renato Feder —the bet will only be on digital content.

Not even the Department’s Pedagogical Coordination (Coped) was called upon to carry out any studies on the impact, nor was the topic taken to schools or teaching directorates. The pedagogical area debated the adoption in recent months.

The Government of São Paulo will still be obliged to adopt the works purchased by the MEC for the initial years of elementary school, ranging from the 1st to the 5th year. As a result, state schools that offer both cycles of fundamental education will have part of the students with books and another part without.

The MEC (Ministry of Education) will officiate the Tarcísio government about this obligation, since purchases were already made in the first half of 2023. It was only on July 20 of this year that Feder formalized the abandonment for the final years of elementary school.

The possible confusion that the measure will cause in the network is foreseen by the MEC itself. In a note, the folder stressed that it is up to each network to choose to join the PNLD, but stressed that the use of works already acquired is mandatory.

“It is worth emphasizing that the state network of SP was contemplated with the works that will serve the initial years next year (2024) whose acquisition was made in the first half of this year (2023)”, says the MEC, “which can generate some noise/confusion internally in the state network.”

According to the ministry, “the FNDE [Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação] will contact Seduc-SP so that they are aware of the network’s obligation to use the books that have already been acquired for the initial years and that are being sent by the Post Office, according to the legal basis”.

Technicians in the area of ​​pedagogical coordination of state schools say they were caught by surprise with the announcement of abandonment of the PNLD. They were not consulted by the secretary about the impact that the decision has on the organization of schools or whether the material produced by the secretary itself is sufficient to cover all the students’ pedagogical needs.

A month before Feder formally abandoned the program, the coordinator of Coped, Renato Dias, met with directors of education to guide and set up a timetable with the schools for choosing the teaching material for the PNLD 2024.

In the video meeting, the coordinator explained that school faculty should be consulted on which books they would like to use next year. The teams even got together to discuss the available materials.

Secretaries of Education consulted by the Sheet under the condition of anonymity, they said they were surprised by Feder’s decision and also predicted negative impacts and disruption in the network.

Even the top private schools adopt physical textbooks, often the same ones distributed in the PNLD. Members of the publishing sector report that a book takes about two years to be produced, which includes pedagogical stages, revision and rights to use images, for example. This complexity puts in doubt the ability of the São Paulo education network to offer its own material.

In the PNLD, it is the teachers and managers themselves who choose the works that will be adopted in schools from a range of options. This relationship is built by technical teams coordinated by the MEC.

Adherence to the federal program does not represent costs for the state secretary of education. Expenses, ranging from acquisition to transportation, are included in the MEC budget.

In a note, the São Paulo secretary said that the decision to leave the PNLD began to be discussed at the beginning of the year, but did not say which professionals from the portfolio participated in the debate. She also did not answer why no study was done on the impact on schools.