Aspects of the basic education privatization in Mercosul countries

• In Event: Privatization and segregation in Latin America

Abstract

This article presents and analysis information that clarifies tendencies of the Basic Education privatization in the context of the Common Market of the South, Mercosul. The Mercosul, block composed by the South America countries, was established in the 1990 decade with the purpose of promote local economics integration by agreements between those countries. The cooperation efforts, however, are not exclusively restricted to the economic sphere, extending itself to other areas, among which school education. The adequation curriculum protocol and the agreement of certificate recognition are considered as examples of actions in education, tittles of Primary/Fundamental/Basic and High School/Secundary levels, not only involving the effective members but the associated countries as well. Are Mercosul effective members : Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela. This study has its focus on those five countries, for which information related to privatization on basic education was searched in two primary sources: Current nacional legislation and the enrollment distribution between public and private sphers. By referring on legislation, it was intended to identify e compare the regulation to the private education offer and the existence or not of mechanisms of public resource transfer to the private sector. The Constitutions and the General Laws of Education was consulted. Although with diferentess denominations, such as the National Education Law or National Guidelines and Bases of Education Law, the laws are characterized by regulating the national education, even though the states and municipalities have different autonomy levels for local regulation. The study of those documents has indicated, in all countries, the presence of regulatory norms providing the public subsidy to the private sector. This subsidy is provided in two ways: tax exemption and transfer of resources to the entities. Private institutions that are likely to be subsidized are those with philanthropic and communal purposes. However, the Brazilian Constitution was the only one in which the transfer of public resources to the private sector exclusively for non-profit organizations is set out in the law.The laws research allow us to verificate that in all Mercosul countries it is predicated the state action as regulator over the private educational offer, standing out the The Nacional Education Law in Argentina, that determines the restriction to the multilateral and bilateral agreements in which the education has been comprehended as a profit service or mercantile in any way. Besides the State regulator character over the private sector, in all countries the legislations provides the participation of its representatives in national collegiate of educational menagement. The second research source, official informations about the enrollment distribution between public and private spheres, demanded the selection of a specific period with the purpose of verify the behavior of Basic Education offer in those five countries tendencies. The last decade was selected for study period. It was intended to organize five years interval for the studies and, at the end, completing with the last three years (2000 – 2005 – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2013) data. It is not possible to have the information for the same year in all countries, but a raise on private enrollments in Basic Education was verified in all five countries. In some cases, even when the total enrollment in any educational step declines, the private sect. Still raising. The private enrollments only decrease in two situations: In the brazilian high school and in Argentina’s primary education. In both situations, there are no raise in public enrollments, but a decrease on both segments. It was concluded, with the data obtained, that there is a tendecy for the raise of private education offer. In legal aspects,we verify that the countries, despite its specificities, have similarities on which is related with public resource transfers to the private sector, tending to officially institute such private mechanism on basic education,such it was verified by studies in other American countries.

Authors

• Teise Garcia, USP

• Theresa Adriao, Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP)