“Queria ser médica, mas não consegui continuar”: Políticas públicas, Governo Federal e a tutela do direito à educação básica durante a pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

This bibliographical exploratory aims to examine the actions of the Federal Government in promoting public policies for basic education during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this, we first define what social rights are, their characteristics and then analyze the social rights in the Federal Constitution. In a second moment, a study is carried out on public policies and their relevance to law, especially in the realization of social rights. Then, we investigate the damage caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 in Brazilian society and the impact of the health emergency, especially the right to basic education. To this end, we use research prepared by Brazilian institutes and reports produced by national and international entities. Next, we proceed to the analysis of the Union’s competence in basic education and the main guidelines adopted by the Federal Government during the pandemic, aimed at protecting the right to education, with the respective critical considerations offered by the House of Representatives, civil society and international organizations. In the end, an appraisal is made of the measures adopted, whether they can be characterized as public policies. The result obtained by the research reveals the ineptness of the actions proposed by Federal Government to reduce the consequences of the interruption of classroom activities and the low coordination of the Ministry of Education in proposing effective public policies of universal reach for students in basic education. The research also revealed the progressive budget reduction of the Ministry, a reflection of the fiscal austerity policies and the transfer of supplementary credits for basic education to the other organs of the Federal Government.