Educational Nesting Egg: Low-income public high school students will receive R$2,000 annually, with extra bonus, announces Minister of Education
An amount of R$6.1 billion will be allocated to the program called Pé de Meia. Lula stated that he will pressure mayors and governors to guarantee the quality of public education. The main objective of the financial incentive is to reduce the school dropout rate.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (left) and the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana (right) at this Friday's press conference - Photo Reproduction/Internet
The Ministry of Education released this Friday (26), in Brasilia the amount to be paid by thePé de Meia Program to R$9,200 for low-income students enrolled in public high school. The initiative's main objective is to combat school dropout rates. The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, explained that The financial aid will be R$2,000 annually, distributed in R$200 upon registration and nine installments of R$200. In addition, a bonus will be granted to students who pass the National High School Exam (Enem) annually at the end of high school. The legislation that establishes this financial stimulus to reduce school dropouts came into force this Friday, ten days after its sanction.
Nesting Program for Low-Income Students
When the student enrolls at the beginning of the year, the amount will be R$200, paid in full. If the student maintains adequate school attendance, reaching more than 80% of teaching hours, he will receive a total of R$1,800, distributed in 9 installments of R$200 each. In addition to the monthly payments, a bonus equivalent to at least one third of the total amount paid to the student will be granted if he or she does not fail any year of high school.
This bonus totals R$1,000 per year and will be paid in a single installment at the end of high school. Additionally, the student who takes the Enem at the end of the 3rd year will receive an additional amount of R$200 in a single payment. As announced by the minister, the expectation is to start payments by the end of March.
"I don't want to give a precise date, but the effort is for the first payment to be made by the end of March," said the Minister of Education.
Implementation Process
Through this program, the funds will be transferred to the bank account of students, as long as they are registered in the Single Registry (a federal government tool designed to collect information from people in vulnerable situations). To be eligible, students must have enrolled at the beginning of the academic year, reached a school attendance of at least 80% of school hours, participated in the Basic Education Assessment System (Saeb), have not failed at the end of the school year and have taken the National High School Examination (Enem) at the end of the school stage.
There will be two deposit types, each with different rules for movement. In the first modality, deposits will be made monthly throughout each academic year for students who enroll and prove the minimum attendance in classes. These amounts will be available for movement at any time, allowing withdrawals, investments in public securities or maintenance in savings. On the other hand, in the second modality, referring to bonuses granted for passing the school year and participating in Enem, the amounts will only be transferred at the end of high school.
Program Objective
According to the Lula government, The objectives of this program include reducing school dropout, especially among low-income students who face a greater risk of abandoning their studies to enter the job market prematurely, in order to help their families financially. Furthermore, it seeks to encourage young people from public schools to participate in Enem, since in 2023 only 46.7% of public school graduates signed up for the test. The program also aims to reduce inequality in access to higher education and the formal job market.
According to information from the Ministry of Education (MEC), the forecast is to benefit approximately 2.5 million students by 2024. enrolled in Education for Youth and Adults (EJA) also have the opportunity to participate in the program, as long as they are between 19 and 24 years old. For these students, the bonus will be granted upon completion of the National Examination for Certification of Skills for Young People and Adults (Encceja).
Families Receiving Other Social Benefits
The amount allocated to students will not be considered when calculating per capita family income. This means that receiving the Pé de Meia will not impact the families' eligibility for Bolsa Família. The bill, approved in December, originally prohibited students with disabilities from accumulating the benefits of the Nest Plan and the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC). However, President Lula vetoed this part of the text.
For low-income families made up exclusively of the student, the Nest Egg cannot be accumulated with certain Bolsa Família "bonuses", such as the Citizenship Income Benefit, Complementary Benefit, Early Childhood Benefit and Family Variable Benefit.
