FREITAS, J. F. S.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/5527448449604385; FREITAS, Josefa Fabnice de Sousa.
Abstract:
This research deals with the National Program for Restructuring and Acquisition of Equipment
for the Public School Network for Early Childhood Education (Proinfância) and the
implications for expanding access to daycare and preschool in Paraíba. It aims to analyze the
Proinfância Program in the state of Paraíba from 2007 to 2022, focusing on the effects of this
Federal Program on one of its goals, which is to ensure access to daycare and pre-school,
through the construction of new establishments based on standard projects. The theoreticalmethodological
basis was based on historical and dialectical materialism, through the analytical
categories: totality, contradiction and historicity. The methodological procedures included
bibliographic review and document analysis. The data collection revealed that the Proinfância
Program is one of the largest public policies aimed at the Early Childhood Education stage at
the federal level. We believe that the program implements the collaboration regime between the
federal government and municipalities, having a positive impact on reducing the deficit of
vacancies in the country, as it was implemented in all Brazilian states. Regarding the state of
Paraíba, it covers the four mesoregions: Agreste Paraibano, Borborema, Mata Paraibana and
Sertão Paraibano. However, the 223 municipalities did not implement this program. Of these,
163 joined the program, signing 292 agreements for the construction of daycare centers and
preschools. The study pointed out that of this number of agreements signed, 57.87% were
concluded and delivered to society, which indicates that Proinfância has been representative in
Paraíba, as it contributes to the increase in vacancies and has been essential for the construction
of a new identity for Early Childhood Education by allocating spaces built according to School
Quality and Infrastructure Parameters, which has positively impacted the quality of daycare and
pre-school provision in the municipalities participating in the program. The study demonstrated
that the implementation of the program in the municipalities of Paraíba has faced impasses and
obstacles that have affected its effectiveness and results, generating an accumulation of 169
unfinished works. Regarding the program's contribution to the expansion of daycare and preschool
provision, the data indicated that Proinfância contributed to the expansion of places in
the municipalities where it was implemented and the work was completed. However, it could
be more effective in increasing vacancies if the unfinished works (42.13%) had been completed
and the program had also been implemented in rural areas, as only (1.02%) of the agreements
signed were intended to be implemented in the countryside, demonstrating that their
contribution to the expansion of daycare and preschool provision in the countryside proved to
be insignificant. Therefore, we affirm that the implementation of Proinfância has been relevant
for expanding the supply of quality Early Childhood Education, but it has not been at all
decisive for the expansion of the provision of Early Childhood Education. Therefore, as
Proinfância has been managed and implemented in the Paraíba context, it has partially
interfered with achieving the objective for which it was created, expanding the offer and
reducing disparities in access to daycare and pre-school. In this sense, we defend the idea that,
after 17 years of existence, it is necessary for Proinfância to go through a process of
reformulation in order to contribute more effectively to guaranteeing the double right of
children and working mothers to access Childhood Education with quality.