BETWEEN PROMISES AND REALITY: THE FULL-TIME SCHOOL PROGRAM IN SÃO CAETANO DO SUL

Abstract

The article analyzes the conditions for implementing the Full-Time School Program (ETI) in São Caetano do Sul/SP, locally known as the São Caetano Integral Program. Exploratory and descriptive in nature, the study combined bibliographic, documentary, and empirical data collected through a questionnaire applied to school managers in the municipal network. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis, organized into three thematic blocks: profile of managers and the community; infrastructure, professional staff, and curricular (re)organization; and program impacts on school routines. The results indicate that, although the network has a qualified management team and infrastructure well above the national average, inequalities persist among schools located in different areas of the city. These disparities affect the management of school time and space, curriculum organization, working conditions, and internal relations. Weaknesses in intersectoral actions and in the articulation between the common and diversified parts of the curriculum reveal the gap between the ideal of integral education and the mere extension of school hours, highlighting historical challenges of this policy in Brazil. The absence of joint planning mechanisms and federative cooperation underscores the urgency of creating a National Education System capable of ensuring stable guidelines, shared responsibility, and policy sustainability—without which full-time education remains vulnerable to discontinuity and limited to the realm of intention.