Financing youth and adult education in the State of Pará – historical challenges

Abstract

The article deals with the Financing of Youth and Adult Education in the state education network of Pará, inquiring whether the inclusion of EJA enrollments in Fundeb represented advances in access to school by young people and adults who did not have this right assured at the appropriate age. It discusses the contradictions and possibilities for advances in EJA, based on an analysis of the local educational policy, considering specific actions for EJA and the amount of resources made available to finance this teaching modality. The investigation was theoretically guided by parameters of Historical-dialectical Materialism, among which the categories of totality, mediation and contradiction. Empirically, the goals, objectives and strategies for EJA, established in the State Education Plans were used to compare them with educational statistics referring to enrollments, the number of schools, classes and teachers working in EJA and revenues, expenses and yearly student spending. It was found that, despite goals 8, 9 and 10 of the State Education Plan of Pará (2015) establishing an increase in the education of the population aged 18 to 29 years, the reduction in educational indicators was accentuated in the period from 2007 to 2019. It was concluded that, although enrollments in Youth and Adult Education have been incorporated from 2007 to Fundeb, for the purpose of redistributing resources, there has been a setback in guaranteeing the right of access to education for this population. Thus, the resumption of the process of advancing this right to young people and adults requires, among many other challenges, the development of aggressive financing policies for this type of education.