As repercussões da obrigatoriedade da pré-escola no direito à educação infantil: relações entre o público e o privado

Abstract

The present thesis had as its general goal was to analyze the impact of compulsory education at preschool concerning the right to early childhood education taking into account ways of admission and permanence at school in the scope of the city educational system. The research carried out in the city of Caxias do Sul/RS was characterized as a qualitative research in order to carry out data production through document analysis, comprehensive interviews with the assistant team of the City Secretariat of Education, which were acting in different times, with the technical assistance of the City Council of Education, principals, pedagogical coordinators, and teachers from early childhood education from both partner and private schools. It was identified that compulsory education at preschool in the city aforementioned brought about effects in the whole stage of early childhood education, which means to affirm that children at kindergarten, despite not having been included in the compulsory admission, have also been affected regarding admission, time of permanence at school and the conditions of the offer, although the assistance rate increased during the period of the study. The strategy of partialization of preschool care, used as a measure to achieve universalization, imposes pedagogical and labor challenges. The principle of gratuity was affected since, on the one hand, there is a charge for the reverse shift in private schools and, on the other, the payment of extra classes and other activities offered in these establishments. The principle of compulsory and free are fundamental for access to education for all to take place. The public sector unlike other cities presented more signs that its offer is aligned with the qualitative premises developed for the area. This can be attributed to the fact that the city plays an important role in regulating the partner schools as it hasn’t built its own network of schools for early childhood education. During the period studied, there was a reduction in the number of enrollments in the public sector for every stage of early childhood education. Private for-profit schools increased their enrollment by more than 100%, with 63% of them participating in a specific call for tenders to sell places to the municipality. In these schools, there are difficulties in monitoring and intervention by the municipal government, even when there is some kind of irregularity. Within the scope of the private sector, there also schools that choose not to participate in the public notices for the sale of vacancies to wait for possible enrollments sent through the judicialization process. Judicialization can be a factor that contributer to the establishment of a business network in the city as schools see the possibility of greater economic gains, since the amount paid is higher and enrollments are sent to the full shift. Thus the municipality seeking to avoid legalization is expanding the purchase of vacancies in the private sector, deepening its dependence on the offer of this stage. These repercussions impose limits on the right to early childhood education. Thus the privatization of the right to education was perceived. The right to education goes beyond the administrative dependency of the vacancy as quality access must be guaranteed to all in institutions that care for and educate chidren without considering them na integral part of a business.