About 20 rectors of federal educational institutes are going this Wednesday (6th) to Brasília in search of support from parliamentarians to avoid a cut of R$ 200 million next year. According to the National Council of Institutions of the Federal Network of Vocational, Scientific and Technological Education (CONIF), a draft released by the Ministry of Education points to a 12% cut in the 2023 budget.
The federal network represented by Conif has around 1.5 million students, with more than 600 campuses distributed throughout the country, bringing together Federal Institutes, Federal Centers for Technological Education (Cefet) and Colégio Pedro II, in Rio de Janeiro, with services from basic to higher education. Of the total number of students, 67% have a family income of up to 1.5 minimum wage.
The rectors have a meeting with the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP), at 3 pm this Tuesday, and then they will try to dialogue with the other parliamentarians. The president of CONIF, Cláudio Alex Jorge da Rocha, dean of the Federal Institute of Pará (IFPA), says that the diagnosis on the budget is “disheartening” and comes after the news of a contingency of more than R$ 180 million this year.
“If there is no guarantee that this budget will be replaced, it will certainly make a series of actions that concern teaching, research, extension, the functioning of our institutions unfeasible,” he told CNN . The report sought a position from the Ministry of Education on the budget of the federal network and awaits a response.
According to Conif, the cuts directly impact funding and affect everything from basic expenses, such as water and energy contracts, to student grants and laboratory supplies. With campuses in rural areas, the federal network still shows concern about keeping students who live in student housing and depend on food and other policies against evasion in education.
Conif data show that, between 2012 and 2022, the number of campuses jumped from 408 to more than 600. The budget did not follow the same pace. Between 2012 and 2015, it rose from R$1.7 billion to R$2.8 billion. In 2016, it suffered the first cut and fell to R$ 2.5 billion, reducing even more in 2017, when it reached R$ 2.1 billion. In 2018, it rose to BRL 2.2 billion, was around BRL 2.3 billion in 2019 and 2020, but fell to BRL 1.9 billion in 2021.
“We know the importance of the federal network so that we can promote development, give greater employability, especially to our young people. For this, it is necessary to have sustainability, to have a guarantee of a budget to finance these advances”, highlighted Rocha, president of Conif.
Evolution of the Federal Network budget (Federal Institutes, Cefets and Colégio Pedro II)
- 2012: BRL 1,709 billion
- 2013: BRL 1,999 billion
- 2014: BRL 2,363 billion
- 2015: BRL 2,809 billion
- 2016: BRL 2,545 billion
- 2017: BRL 2,188 billion
- 2018: BRL 2,211 billion
- 2019: BRL 2,301 billion
- 2020: BRL 2,386 billion
- 2021: BRL 1,951 billion
Source: CNN Brasil
