- Thai Caransa – ctcarran
- From BBC News Brazil in Sao Paulo
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Lack of vacancies in day care centers and preschools affect early childhood education, women’s chances of working and family income
“I’m a housemaid exploiting another housemaid.”
Thus, Valdirin Boaventura Santos, 39, a resident of Salvador, summed up a situation that was uncomfortable for him.
For eight years a caregiver for the elderly and before that a nanny, housekeeper and cook, Valdirin has spent her entire life taking care of other people’s homes and families.
She raises three children alone, ages 16, 5 and 4, and finds no place in public day care and preschool for the youngest in her neighborhood.
The disadvantages are shared by more than 3 million Brazilian children who have no place in early childhood education, a cycle that lasts from 0 to 6 years and is guaranteed as a right by the national constitution. Since there are no vacancies, many parents resort to justice (see later in this article).
“In my community, there is a kindergarten center called Olga Benario. I have been enrolling my kids since childhood, but every time we are attracted to another neighborhood,” said Valdirin, who entered the service at 8 in the morning and left at 5 in the afternoon. Makes it impossible to travel to neighboring areas. The family lives in Dorne, about 10 kilometers from the historic center of the Bahian capital.
Even through the state government’s Mais Infância project, domestic workers enroll their children in a community day care center. It pays R $ 200 per child, but frequently encounters problems, such as lack of teachers, water and electricity, which disrupt class.
“People who are housemaids can’t justify to the boss that they won’t work because they have no one to look after our son,” Valdirin said.
During the epidemic, when children were unable to attend and paid, he chose to take them out of their community’s day care. Now, while still waiting for a place on the public network, Valdirin leaves her children with a neighbor who takes care of six children in her own home.
Credit, Private archive
“Those who are housemaids can’t justify to the boss that they won’t work because they have no one to look after our son,” said elder caretaker Valdirine Boaventura Santos.
“It’s an uncomfortable situation. I’m a domestic worker. I know my rights as a worker. I fight for those rights, but ‘the blacksmith’s house, the stick square,'” said Valdirin, who is the legal secretary for domestic workers. Bahia Union (Syndomestic).
From the city of Salvador, with her salary as a caretaker of only BRL 1,200 and BRL 120 over the first step of the program to help mothers who do not have a place in early childhood education, she says she will not be able to sign the wallet and their children To pay the minimum wage for care. Or I could afford a private preschool.
A problem that affects women’s income
The Rui Barbosa Institute, an organization affiliated with the State Audit Court, estimates that Brazil will need to create at least 3.4 million places in primary education to meet the goals set out in the National Education Plan (PNE).
To meet these goals, all children ages 4 and 5 must go to pre-school by 2016, and 50% of children ages 0 to 3 will have access to day-care by 2024.
The epidemic pushed Brazil further away from these targets, with more than 650,000 children under the age of 5 dropping out of school between 2019 and 2021, according to the 2021 school census published by INEP (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anisio Texeira).
Although exacerbated by the epidemic, the problem of low access to education for young children is not new. This makes it difficult for thousands of women to be able to work full time, ensuring high incomes for their families.
Tays Aparecida Alves Fazzio, a 30-year-old resident of Santa Catarina Araquari, has struggled to find a place in day care for her two children.
Credit, Private archive
Tess quit her job due to limited time of public day care in her hometown and now works as a babysitter to take care of her own son and another child.
For the eldest, who is now 8 years old, he got a place right after calling his city’s guardianship council – he was then living in Bauru inside Sao Paulo.
Early childhood education is a child’s right guaranteed by the constitution. From 0 to 3 year olds, enrollment in day care is optional, while preschool enrollment is compulsory for 4 and 5 year olds. In case of lack of space in both day care and pre-school, parents can contact the parent council or the public defender’s office, as they did with their older daughter.
The youngest, currently 5 months old, has problems opening a day-care center in Arakuri: 7am to 1am for morning shifts or 12pm to 6pm for afternoon shifts.
“It didn’t pay for me, I had to ask for a service bill and now I’m caring for a baby next to her, working from home, as a babysitter,” Tess said.
A graduate in education and previously working with telemarketing, she noticed that her income dropped to R $ 400, which she now earns as a nanny, along with the R $ 600 pension that her eldest daughter received due to the death of her father. Tess says how hard it was for her to quit her job to stay home.
“It was hard for me, I had plans to try a competition and I was always working out of the house. I’ve been working since I was 12 years old. It was very complicated. I do because I’m a trained educator but if I have to pay someone to stay with them, it will be paid for the work, almost nothing will be left. ”
An informal care network
Faced with a shortage of vacancies for all, women like Tays and Valdirene’s neighbors provide thousands of childcare needs, especially in the perimeter.
This is because, in addition to being inadequate, day care centers and pre-school supplies are very uneven.
According to the Brazilian Yearbook of Basic Education 2021 published by Todos pela Educação, 54% of children aged 0 to 3 years from the richest families in the country were enrolled in day care centers in 2019, with only 28% of the poorest. According to this calculation, among 4- and 5-year-olds, the percentage is 98% and 93% for preschool rich and poor, respectively.
By region, although day care center enrollment reached 44% in the south and southeast, they were only 33% in the north-east, 30% in the center-west, and 19% in the north of the country.
At the age of 14, 18-year-old Vittoria de Andred Lorenko is caring for slightly more children than her own.
He followed in the footsteps of his mother, Sueli, who cared for children in Heliopolis, a low-income neighborhood south of Sao Paulo, until he gave up the activity due to pain in one arm that prevented him from caring. Small children.
Credit, Private archive
18-year-old Vittoria de Andred Lorenko follows in her mother’s footsteps, caring for children from the age of 14.
Currently, Vittoria only cares for a 3-year-old boy, but she has already taken care of four children at the same time. In some cases, she picks up young children from day care and stays with them until their parents return from work.
“There are children who don’t go to day care and stay with me all day,” says Vitoria
In addition to her work as a caretaker, Vittoria allowed other women to work. But he himself dreams of a well-paying job.
“I really want to find a stable job. I like caring for kids, but it’s not a stable job and the minimum wage sometimes disappoints you,” he said.
While she cares for four children, Vittoria earns R $ 800 a month. Now, with just one, she gets R $ 250, which complements her mother’s pension after her father’s death. As his sister is unemployed, they are the only source of income for the family.
Vittoria wants to work in beauty with eyebrow design, which will give her the possibility to start her own business. She says she is also thinking about going back to school.
“I think about it a lot, I wanted to do pedagogy to work in a day care, but now it’s a little tight. I want it, “he said.
‘Early childhood education benefits the whole society’
According to education experts, despite the affection and dedication of women who care for children informally, this care does not replace education in educational institutions.
More than just a place for young children to leave, day care centers and preschools play a fundamental role in educating children, equal opportunities for men and women, and tackling poverty, as women’s ability to work increases women’s income.
Credit, Publicity / Sao Paulo City Hall
“90% of a child’s development occurs in infancy,” said Mariana Luz of the Maria Cecilia Suto Vidigal Foundation.
“90% of a child’s development occurs in infancy. They develop physical and motor skills – crawling, walking, saying goodbye at the right time – but also cognitive and socio-economic development,” explained Mariana Luz, its director. Foundation Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal, an organization centered on early childhood.
“The first concerns the ability to learn, absorb knowledge and be creative. The second is skills that will be useful for a lifetime, such as working in a team, coping well with stress, having communication skills. Skills are in great demand in the job market today. Formed in childhood “, he added.
According to Mariana, a good childhood education enhances a child’s learning ability throughout the educational journey.
Quality early childhood education also has a positive effect on public health, improving children’s nutrition and public safety, as well-developed children are less likely to be tempted to commit crimes.
“In the long run, a good primary education can result in benefits for future generations and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, leading to higher incomes throughout a child’s life,” the expert said.
When contacted, the Ministry of Education did not respond to a request for a post from BBC News Brazil.
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