Increase offer of integral education in the public network is one of the determinations of the PNE (National Education Plan), a document from the Ministry of Education approved in 2013 that stipulated goals, guidelines and strategies for the country’s educational policy.
Despite this prediction completing a decade, the government of São Paulo invested in biggest expansion of the model in the last four years —there were 417 full-time schools in 2019 and, in 2023, there will be 2,311, more than five times the number.
For specialists, in spite of necessarythe haste in implementation did not take into account the necessary care to avoid prejudice and exclusion of vulnerable students.
“Expansion was carried out very quickly, without presenting the criteria for choosing the schools that would use the model. There is also no follow-up on the impacts and consequences of this change for young people”, says researcher João Victor de Oliveira.
According to a survey carried out by Lemadi (Teaching and Didactic Material Laboratory) at USP, in collaboration with Repu (Public School and University Network), 246 São Paulo municipalities —38% of the total —offer the model in all their state schools.
The research identified that most of these cities are small and inland. The board of education in Fernandópolis, which covers 16 municipalities, is the first in the state to have all state schools use the model. The second most comprehensive is the board of education in Piracicaba, where 86% of the units have already adopted full-time.
Expansion has been slower in more populated regions, such as São Paulo capital and surrounding municipalities. In the city of São Paulo, for example, the Sul 3 education directorate, which is located in the Cidade Dutra region, has only 13% of schools with the model.
“The country needs to increase the offer of comprehensive education and needs to do it quickly, but the transition needs to be well thought out so that it is fair to all students”, says Ricardo Henriques, superintendent of Instituto Unibanco.
For him, the expansion of the full-time model involves ensuring financial support for students so that they can dedicate themselves only to their studies. It also involves a cultural change in the population, since in many regions it is common for parents to want their children to start working in adolescence.
“It’s no use imposing the model. The country is used to part-time schools, parents studied part-time and understand that this is natural. For the transition to work, it is necessary to respect this culture until parents realize and accept convince them that it is advantageous to have their child at school for longer”, says Henriques, who was one of the coordinators of the initial implementation of the Bolsa Família program.
Experts argue that it is necessary to guarantee families the option of keeping their children in part-time schools and also ensure that these units do not become even more precarious.
“The wishes and needs of families need to be respected when implementing any educational policy. The imposition of full-time schools has increased inequalities, as the most vulnerable students are pushed into partial schools that receive fewer resources”, says Eduardo Girotto , coordinator of Lemadi.
One piece of data that indicates problems in adherence to full-time education in São Paulo is the difference in the scope of the model in terms of units and enrollments. Currently, 45% of state schools in São Paulo are full-time, but only 17% of students study there.
In states where the policy began to be implemented some time ago, this proportion is similar. Pernambuco, which implemented the model more than a decade ago and is a reference in the country in this areahas 67% of schools and 61.2% of full-time enrollments.
In Paraíba, 65.7% of schools and 55.9% of enrollments in the model. The data is from a survey by Instituto Sonho Grande, which supports states across the country in implementing full-time work.
“We need full-time schools, because that’s what countries with the best educational results do. In Europe, in Asian countries there is no part-time school. But this involves a profound cultural change in the country, so the implementation needs to be careful not to increase even more evasion and educational inequalities”, says Henriques.
