For Mercadante, allocating 10% of GDP to education is a "politically difficult task to accomplish."
The Chamber of Deputies approved a proposal that doubles the current 5,1% of direct investments in the sector by 2020.
247 – The proposal approved in the Chamber of Deputies to increase direct investments in education to 10% of GDP was considered by Minister Aloizio Mercadante to be a “difficult political task to execute”. Read more in the UOL article:
The Minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante, stated this Tuesday (26), in a note, that the proposal approved by the Chamber of Deputies that allocates 10% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to education is a “difficult political task to execute”.
“In terms of the federal government, it's equivalent to putting a Ministry of Education within the Ministry of Education, that is, taking R$ 85 billion from other ministries to allocate to Education. It's a politically difficult task to execute,” says the minister. According to the Ministry of Education, the proposal is equivalent to “doubling, in real terms,” the resources for the area in the budget of the three levels of government (municipalities, states, and the federal government).
The ministry stated that it will still study the "repercussions and implications" of the decision and await its progress in the Senate, where the text now goes.
10% Approval
The members of the special committee analyzing the National Education Plan (PNE) approved an amendment in the early evening that mandates direct investment of at least 10% of GDP in education by the end of the plan's term in 2020. Before that, within five years, this percentage must be at least 7%. Currently, the country invests 5,1% of GDP in education.
The amendment altered the base text of rapporteur Angelo Vanhoni (PT-PR). The original wording, approved on the 13th, stipulated 8% with a trigger that could raise the percentage to 10%. The text approved today removes any condition for the 10%.
The National Education Plan (PNE) sets 20 goals that the country should achieve in education between 2011 and 2020. Among them are increasing the number of places available, improving teacher salaries, eradicating illiteracy, and improving the provision of full-time education.
Teacher's salary
Earlier, the committee had already approved bringing forward the goal of equalizing teachers' salaries with those of professionals with the same level of education. The original text stipulated compliance by the end of the plan; with today's vote, this deadline has been extended to the sixth year of the National Education Plan (PNE).