A new bill in the Chamber proposes the payment of BRL 500 to BRL 800 per year for students who complete each of the series of the teaching average. The aim is to contain school dropout, which has increased in the pandemic.
The authorship is of deputy Tabata Amaral (PDT-SP), together with other parliamentarians. The amount would be paid year by year to students from families in poverty or extreme poverty, that is, the same groups that are currently entitled to Bolsa Família.
In all, it would be R$500 after the conclusion of the first year of high school or vocational education, R$600 in the second year and R$700 in the third, in addition to R$800 in the fourth year of vocational training, if any. Finally, the student who takes the National High School Exam (Enem) at the end of the cycle and obtains a grade above the national average would earn another R$300.
The projected cost is R$ 4.6 billion in the accumulated until 2023, starting this year. According to the estimate, 2.5 million students would be covered, corresponding to one third of the 7.5 million students in secondary education.
A study carried out in July last year, led by economist Ricardo Paes de Barros, from Insper, calculates that Brazil loses more than R$214 million per year with 16-year-old students who drop out of school. The amount comes from the lower wages that young people earn without training. In this case, the contribution to the country's economy is also smaller, influencing the quality of life and greater involvement in crimes.
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The calculation was used by Amaral as an argument to implement the financial incentive for students. “It would cost less than 1% of what we already lose with students who don't complete high school. It is a cost-effective project that is very well mapped and advantageous”, she says. Also according to the deputy, one way for the project would be to integrate it into the Bolsa Família budget.
Regarding the source of funds, she argues that the discussion arises in a context of discussions about reforms such as tax and administrative reforms in Congress, which could contribute to the reallocation of priorities.
The deputy says that she is in favor of the extension of emergency aid, “but if we want to have any chance of bringing structural change for the medium and long term, it takes place in education”, she emphasizes. She also assesses that abstention above 50% in this year's Enem is a symbol of the evasion that is yet to come.
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