The federal government announced a package of budget cuts that foresees a reduction of R$ 42.3 billion in the budget of the Ministry of Education (MEC) until 2030. The measure, proposed by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, could impact the expansion of education full campaign commitment of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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These cuts will still be analyzed by the National Congress, which will be able to adjust the details before final approval. The plan suggests that funds for full-time education in the Ministry of Education budget can be redirected to other areas, in line with the Union’s annual priorities.
Basic Education Fund
Currently, comprehensive education is financed mainly by the Basic Education Development Fund (Fundeb), which receives majority contributions from the States, the Federal District and the municipalities. The federal government’s counterpart is 19%, but the forecast is for this rate to reach 23% in 2026.
Mayors and governors are responsible for managing Fundeb resources, deciding how to apply them in their regions. The government proposed that 20% of the federal contribution to Fundeb be used to expand comprehensive education.
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If Congress approves the change, Fundeb will become the only source of financing for this type of education. According to g1, without additional support from the Ministry of Education, the expansion of full-time education could lose R$ 42.3 billion in the next five years.
The budget restructuring, according to the Ministry of Finance, would create fiscal space for other areas of the MEC.
“As it will not be necessary to provide resources from the Ministry of Education for full-time schools, fiscal space is created in the MEC budget,” the ministry stated in an official note.
Broader impacts of budget cuts
The allocation of these resources will depend on the annual Budget, proposed by the government and approved by Congress. Cuts to the Education Ministry’s budget represent about 13% of the 327.1 billion reais in overall cuts planned by the Treasury.
This is the area with the second largest cuts, only behind changes in the minimum wage, which affect security and social assistance benefits.
Challenges for municipalities and regional inequalities
HE Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc) He criticized the proposal, since he considers that it transfers an important part of the responsibility for comprehensive education to states and municipalities. For the agency, this could increase regional inequalities.
Many Brazilian municipalities already depend almost exclusively on transfers from Fundeb and other federal resources to maintain their educational networks. In this context, Inesc warned that the ability of some localities to pay the minimum wage to education professionals could make it difficult to offer a complete education.
“We know that most of them cannot even pay the minimum wage for basic education; Now they will have to pay for part of the complete educational offer with Fundeb resources, which will probably not happen, widening regional inequalities,” the organization analyzed.
With the proposal, the government seeks to open fiscal space in the federal budget, but the viability of this strategy will depend on the ability of states and municipalities to efficiently manage and apply Fundeb resources to expand comprehensive education.
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