QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL SUPPLY AND LEARNING INEQUALITIES IN BRAZILIAN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Abstract

In recent decades, concern with educational quality was more evident on the Brazilian public agenda than efforts focused on combating inequalities, due to the widespread use of the Basic Education Development Index - Ideb. However, studies indicate that quality has not been accompanied by equity, violating constitutional principles. In the context, we investigated the relationship between indicators of educational provision and measures of quality and equity of learning in Elementary
education. Using data from Brazilian public schools, from the Censo Escolar (School Census) and Saeb (National Basic Education Assessment System), demographic and investment data, from IBGE(Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and Siope (Information System on Public Budgets in Education), we observe that educational offer indicators are more associated with quality than with equity and that larger municipalities tend to present quality with less equity. It is possible to observe a North/South pattern in the country. More equitable situations are seen in the North and Northeast states. On the other
hand, the best quality situations will be found in the South and Southeast states. More quality situations with equity are rare in Brazilian municipalities, but were found in greater proportion in Ceará state. We concluded that specific and more objective policies are necessary to guarantee a quality education with equity. This guarantee is everyone's right and is even more relevant in the post-COVID-19 pandemic scenario, in which learning gaps and increased educational inequalities have become more evident.