FUNDING RURAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: INVESTIMENT OR EXPENSE?

This study focuses on the education of children from 0 to 5 years old living in rural areas of Porto Velho, Rondônia, aiming to analyze the funding for the development of rural early childhood education from 2009 to 2016. The study, of a qualitative approach, was conducted through data collection concerning the attendance to rural early childhood education, actions, programs, and projects aimed at funding. To this end, the source of information was documents from the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), as well as from the Municipal Planning Secretariat (SEMPLA) of Porto Velho. We analyzed the Budget Execution Summary Reports referring to the period from 2009 to 2016 and the Pluriannual Plans (PPAs) of Porto Velho that covered the same period. The Statistical Yearbooks of the State Department of Education of Rondônia (SEDUC/RO) were also document sources. Other important documents also analyzed were laws, decrees, national and local directives that guide the development of the Early Childhood Education stage. The study showed there are few funding actions, programs, or projects for the rural early childhood education stage in Porto Velho. The programs designed by the Municipal Secretariat of Education (SEMED) are mostly focused on Primary Education or Early Childhood Education in the urban area. In the PPAs 2010/2013 and 2014/2017 actions were identified referring only to the transportation of students from the rural perimeter.