Lula government announces the Undergraduate Savings Program, with monthly incentives for training new teachers.
The federal government, through the Ministry of Education (MEC), announced the “Pé-de-Meia Licenciatura” program, which will guarantee a payment monthly allowance of R$1.050 for students enrolled in undergraduate courses. The initiative will be detailed next Monday (13) and is part of “Mais Professores”, a broad public policy aimed at valuing the teaching profession.
Encouragement for future teachers
The program was designed to encourage young people to enter the teaching profession, a field that has suffered from salary devaluation and a lack of attraction of new talent. Part of the amount will be allocated directly to the student, while another portion will be deposited in a savings account, promoting financial security for the beneficiaries during and after their training. top.
The expectation is that the program will become a trademark of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) third term, aligning itself with other projects to encourage education. Currently, the “Pé-de-Meia” program also benefits around 4 million high school students with a monthly amount of R$200.
- Bradesco Foundation is offering a free 100% online course with a certificate for all ages! Improve your resume right now – See how to sign up
- Senai has a great opportunity! There are 150 vacancies open for free courses in IT, Building, Logistics, Electronics; registration until February 12th
- Take a course at USP without leaving home and for free! The best university in the country is offering free and distance learning courses
- Distance learning engineering is now in fashion! The number of students taking online engineering courses is growing and surpassing the number of students taking in-person courses in Brazil
Official announcement of the Undergraduate Program and publication of Enem 2024
The details of the program will be presented at a press conference by the MEC and the National Institute of Studies and Educational Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP), coinciding with the release of the results of the National High School Exam (Enem)) 2024. The press conference is scheduled for 10 am next Monday.
On Tuesday (14), President Lula and the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, will hold a ceremony at the Planalto Palace to celebrate the launch of the program. During the event, additional conditions for joining the benefit are also expected to be announced.
Controversies about the program
Although the “Pé-de-Meia” program was well received by a large part of the population, it also faced criticism and legal challenges. In December 2024, the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) requested the blocking of resources allocated to the program, alleging irregularities in the budget design and possible fiscal violations. Despite this, Squid firmly defended the initiative during an event in Bahia.
“First, I don’t think it’s an expense; I think it’s an investment. Second, it would be much more expensive to build prisons to lock up kids who didn’t have the opportunity than to invest in schools. That’s why it doesn’t matter how much it costs; what matters is that we’re ensuring that you grow up, learn a profession, get a college degree, become doctors, and provide services to this country, to your family, and to your community,” the president declared.
Bachelor's degree in Brazil
Despite being an essential profession, the bachelor’s degree has faced increasing challenges, including low pay and precarious working conditions. The new program aims to reverse this scenario by offering financial support to attract more students to the field.
Experts point out that the lack of incentives could compromise the quality of basic education in the future, making initiatives like this even more relevant.
Next Steps
The implementation of the program will be closely monitored by analysts and educators, especially in light of technical challenges to its budget execution. The government, in turn, emphasizes that the program is a fundamental step towards valuing the teaching profession and training future education professionals.
With the new incentive, thousands of young Brazilians are expected to choose the field, helping to strengthen public education and meet the growing demand for qualified teachers across the country.
The incentive is really cool, although the entire education infrastructure needs to be improved. But the question is: After graduating, how will this professional get a job in the public service if there is no public exam? When will he pass a PSS?
Many teachers are lucky and only get jobs in private schools, but others are also there without vacancies to work in the training area.
Every isolated measure, strongly anchored in motivations, with which everyone agrees, but which do not encompass the set of medium and long-term actions, capable of turning the key in relation to education, ends up having as the biggest beneficiary of public policy the private education and its investors, without demanding and monitoring the quality of what is taught.
For health courses, we also need it, we spend a lot on undergraduate courses, it is an area that is not very valued in some courses.