Early Childhood Education Budget rose to R$443.09 million

Survey on budget execution, carried out by the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc) points to growth significant volume of resources allocated to the area of ​​Early Childhood Education, in particular, for the construction and maintenance of daycare centers. Thus, this contribution went from R$39.3 million in 2020, reaching R$110.8 million in the first half of 2022, and jumping to R$443.09 million in the same period this year.

The Inesc study responds to the request of Agenda 227, a movement in defense of the rights of children and adolescents, articulated with networks of institutions, such as Childhood Brasil; Maria Cecília Souto Vidigal Foundation; Geledês – Black Women’s Institute and the Climate and Society Institute (iCS). The comparison of resources, between the different periods, was made possible due to the availability of data from SIGA Brasil, a system that guarantees transparency to this type of information.

Despite the expansion of the sector's general numbers in recent years, the outlook is not favorable for some educational segments. For example, of the 30 actions aimed at children and young people, in 2012, the federal government reduced them to the ‘Criança Feliz’ program, in 2016, which prioritizes care for pregnant women and children up to three years old from CadÚnico and up to six years old, covered by the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC). Currently, Criança Feliz suffers from a lack of resources.

Also ‘dehydrated’ in the last four years, the ‘Rede Cegonha’ program suffered a considerable cut of 38% in its funds, which fell from R$71.2 million, in the first half of 2019, to R$44.2 million, in the first half of 2023. To make the situation worse, only a portion of 9.7% of the total budget was actually released in the first six months of this year.

Faced with this reality, entities in the sector defend the increase in the amount for the National Policy for Comprehensive Health Care for Children, aimed at the target audience of children up to nine years old. According to an analysis developed by Inesc and Agenda 227, in the first half of this year, the R$ 3.9 million received by the sector were spent on paying off expenses from previous years.

A month ago, the Lula government blocked the release of public resources of R$201 million for basic education (which includes R$131 million for the development of literacy), not to mention the reduction in resources for school transport and scholarships, almost at the same time as that the federal Executive launched the full-time education program, which attracted criticism and demands from the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana.