The Senate approved, on Tuesday afternoon (24), the provisional measure (MP) that allows the renegotiation of debts from Fies (Student Financing Fund). Now, the text goes to the table of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for sanction.
According to the measure, delinquent students can have discounts of up to 99% in the payment of overdue debts.
Students in debt for more than 90 days can have a 12% discount on the cash payment, or pay the debt in 150 months, with interest and fines waived.
If the debts exceed 360 days of maturity, the discounts to be applied can reach 77%. If the student is enrolled in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico), the discount can reach 99%.
The federal government claims that the purpose of the MP is to reduce the Fies default rate. According to the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), more than 1 million students have delays of more than 90 days in funding.
Financial obligations with Fies were temporarily suspended by the government during the state of public calamity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two senators even presented highlights for the text of the MP, but they were removed from the project to prevent the text from returning to the Chamber. The deadline for the MP to receive the presidential sanction ends next Wednesday, June 1st.
“This project is essential to allow millions of students who are in default to resume their activities in a dignified way. The investment in education that we are making is essential to help the country obtain a population with a higher level of education, more prepared for the numerous challenges of the 21st century”, writes the report by Senator Fernando Bezerra (MDB-PE).
The rapporteur rejected the 11 amendments presented with the justification of considering that the proposals “would certainly lead to a situation of insolvency of the fund”.
House approval
The plenary of the Chamber of Deputies approved the MP on May 17. The basic text was approved by 405 votes to 9.
During the plenary analysis, the deputies included an amendment to provide that the unfunded portion should be governed “not only generically in terms of income and course value, but more specifically in proportion to the income and value of the financed course”.
Regulation of rules of this MP edited by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in December last year predicted that discounts could reach 92% of Fies debts.
Distance assessment of courses
The text approved by the Chamber also provides for a change in the legislation of the National Higher Education Assessment System so that the assessment of institutions can be carried out in a more in loco face-to-face or virtual, with georeferencing.
For courses in Medicine, Psychology, Dentistry, Nursing and other higher education courses established in terms of regulation, however, the assessment in loco can only be in person.
This passage was contested by deputies opposing the federal government. They argued that it was not possible to carry out a quality assessment remotely. However, the passage was kept in the text approved by the majority of the House plenary.
* Luciana Amaral of CNN contributed to this report
Source: CNN Brasil
