Civil action to clear the queue for places in daycare centers has been ongoing since 2009SME/Disclosure
Published 02/05/2024 17:05
Rio’s city hall was fined more than R$2 billion for not clearing the queue of children for a place in municipal daycare centers. The sanction was applied by the 1st Court of Children and Youth and the Elderly, in a public civil action initiated by the Public Ministry in 2009, with the participation of the Public Defender’s Office of Rio de Janeiro as an assistant. The amount will be sent to the Municipal Fund for Children’s Rights.
The public civil action determined the enrollment of all children up to six years of age in the municipal education network, setting a deadline of 90 days for compliance with the decision, under penalty of a daily fine equivalent to R$300 per child.
Since the sentence became final, on April 15, 2009, the amount of the fine has accumulated. The city hall, which claims to be trying to implement what was decided, can still appeal the decision.
In the decision, judge Lysia Maria Mesquita says that there is a “dire picture” and a “martyrdom of thousands of children who, during these years, yearn for the realization of their right to full access to early childhood education by obtaining a place in a daycare center” .
At the end of the 2023 school year, there were still 12,394 children aged up to 6 years old waiting for places in the full day, and 2,911 in the part time, according to data from the city hall itself.
Public defender Rodrigo Azambuja highlights that there have been annual efforts to enroll students in daycare and preschool places. “Year after year, we serve thousands of people seeking access to early childhood education. Omission directly harms children, who do not go to school and lose opportunities to develop, receiving adequate pedagogical stimuli and care. And also those responsible, mostly women, prevented from entering the job market. Therefore, we are considering appealing, so that this fine can be increased. Our idea is for it to be used in projects for the early childhood education of children in Rio”, stated the defender.
Agência Brasil contacted the Municipal Department of Education and is awaiting a position.
