Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please provide a brief summary of the initiative including the problems/challenges it addressed and the solutions that the initiative introduced (300 words maximum)
According to the latest UNDP Human Development Atlas, in 2010, 87.41% of the population aged 6-17 years in the municipality were attending regular basic education with up to two years of age-grade lag and only 16.95% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 were attending higher education. In 2010, considering the municipal population of 25 years of age or older, 5.26% were illiterate, 59.56% had completed elementary education, 43.40% had completed high school and 13.05% Graduated.
Taking these data into account, the Municipality through the Department of Education has launched the Local Quality education program - A proposal for Life, which covers all age groups of education, with a focus on raising the school level of the population from pre-school to higher education . It was made available to the population, free school transportation for the population, the municipal education system became an apostille (an innovation in Brazil), another nursery was built and inaugurated, and PROUNI municipal was launched, a Municipal Government Program in Partner with the Local University (UNIFAJ) to foster higher education, where the student pays only 30% of the monthly fee and the rest is paid by the municipal government and the university.
a. What are the overall objectives of the initiative?
Please describe the overall objectives of the initiative (200 words maximum)
The general objectives of this initiative are: “No one stays behind”
1) Free Quality Education for the entire population, from nursery to university. With quality facilities, trained teachers and didactic material with apostille system.
2) 100% of fully literate children
3) 100% of school-age children duly enrolled in schools
4) All children and young people with access to school through free school transportation 5) 100% Youth and Adults inserted in the educational context, mainly in high school and in higher education
6) Adults who did not have access to school, also have access to the School for Youth and Adults (CEJA) to resume studies and in some cases since literacy.
7) To become a national reference in Brazil in quality public education.
b. How does the initiative fit within the selected category?
Please describe how the initiative is linked to the criteria of the category (200 words maximum)
The Initiative is linked to the selected category because it is 100% targeted to the most vulnerable population of the city that does not have access to private schools of education.
8% of the municipality's GDP is invested in Education, dedicated to the poorest population to have access to Quality Education.
Some of the schools in Jaguariuna are located in rural areas (48% of the municipality of Jaguariúna is rural), which would make it difficult for children to access, but with free and quality school transportation, all children in rural areas attend school.
With the teaching book system, provided free by the city, children and young people have an updated and quality material for learning.
The partnership between the local government and the university (UNIFAJ) located in the municipality gives vulnerable young people access to higher education, since 2009 more than 4,500 young people have been able to join the University through PROUNI Municipal, a program in which the municipal government and the University offer 500 places of higher education, with 70% scholarship.
Question 2
The initiative should improve people’s lives, notably by enhancing the contribution of public services to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the SDGs
a. Please explain how the initiative improves the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
The Initiative is placed in front of the municipalities in Brazil, since 8% of the GDP of the municipality is dedicated to Education, besides this through a Planning model and actions with medium and long term results, the initiative is proposed as a path so that the poorest and most vulnerable have access to quality education at ZERO cost. The Secretariat of Education has become a direct vector for collaboration with the Sustainable Development Objective number 4 - Quality Education.
Every year we receive resources from the Federal Government to reform municipal schools considering accessibility for children with disabilities.
With children in school we foster economic development and gender equality in the municipality, since mothers can work and leave their children in schools, children's meals and school meals are provided by local farmers, which encourages family farming. Quality education generates not only benefits for children and young people but also the local economy. Within this context, we also have the “Escola Amiga” (Friend School) Project, which every weekend a school in the municipality is open to the population, for cultural activities, health and integration of parents, students and teachers, aiming at strengthening these links and placing the school as a means of congregating between the community and the public power.
Question 3
The initiative must impact positively a group or groups of the population (i.e. children, women, elderly, people with disability, etc) and address a significant issue of public service delivery within the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant issue related to the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
By reading the UNDP Human Development Atlas in 2010, the municipal prefecture
It identified a GAP in primary and higher education, of children and youths respectively, of the municipality, 87.41% of the population aged 6 to 17 years of the municipality were attending regular basic education with up to two years of age-series lag and only 16, 95% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 were in higher education. With this data, the municipal governament approached education as a priority in the public policies of the municipality, investing in increasing the quality of public education, building day care centers and schools, training faculty and establishing partnerships with state and federal government and the Institution of Higher Education located in the city. This investment in education over the years has placed Jaguariúna as the Best Quality Education in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, Brazil, in 2017, according to INDSAT Research.
b. Please explain how the initiative has impacted positively a group or groups of the population within the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
The positive impact of the municipality's investment in Quality Education is reflected in the considerable increase in the number of young people who have completed Higher Education, with PROUNI municipal in force since 2009, 500 scholarships are donated per year to vulnerable youngsters the moment is more than 4500 young people impacted by this initiative, with the opportunity to do a Superior Course of quality, thus increasing the national statistics of young people with higher education. The most impacted group is women, our figures show that the average access to higher education, with PROUNI municipal, by women is 67%.
In 2017 69% of the 500 places were filled by women and in 2018, 63% so far.
Question 4
The initiative must present an innovative idea, a distinctively new approach, or a unique policy or approach implemented in order to realize the SDGs in the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain in which way the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
According to national surveys, the situation of Education in Brazil presents the following indices:
In Brazil, 97% of students aged between 7 and 14 years are in school, however, the rest of this percentage, 3%, account for approximately 1.5 million school-aged people who are out of the room of class.For every 100 students entering the first grade, only 47 finish the 9th grade at the corresponding age, 14 complete high school without interruption and only 11 arrive at the university; 61% of 5th graders can not interpret simple texts. 60% of 9th graders do not interpret dissertation texts;
65% of 5th graders do not master the calculation, 60% of 9th graders do not know how to perform percentage calculations.
Considering these indicators, the Local Quality Education initiative - A Proposal for Life, becomes innovative and assertive in the municipality because it develops effective short, medium and long term measures, such as:
Mobilizing society to the importance that Education exercises;
Targeting of financial resources for schools and teachers - 8% of the municipality's GDP is dedicated to education;
Appreciation of the education professional;
Implantation of long-term educational policy measures- "No one stays behind" providing quality education from nursery to higher education for the entire population.
Question 4b
b. Please describe if the innovation is original or if it is an adaptation from other contexts (If it is known)? (200 words maximum)
Local Quality Education - A proposal for Life is an adaptation of public policies programs focused on Education, from developed countries, where investment in Education is the priority of these countries.
Question 4c
c. What resources (i.e. financial, human , material or other resources, etc) were used to implement the initiative? (200 words maximum)
All resources for the implementation of the Local Quality Education Program - A Proposal for life, are the municipal government. Financial resources, staff and materials.
More than 40% of the City's Priority Projects Budget for the period from 2017 to 2020, for example, is devoted to public education policies.
Question 5
The initiative should be adaptable to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions). There may already be evidence that it has inspired similar innovations in other public-sector institutions within a given country, region or at the global level.
a. Has the initiative been transferred to other contexts?
No
Yes, the Local Quality Education initiative - A proposal for Life is totally adaptable to other contexts.
In order to be successful in the initiative, a complete diagnosis of the education of each municipality is necessary, considering the statistical data from day care to higher education, and the real needs of the local population.
Review the budget of the municipality, considering Education as a Priority
Engagement of the population with public education, through citizen education projects integrated with all local government secrets such as public safety, health, environment, urban mobility, economic development, etc.
To make Municipal Schools an instrument of integration between the public power and the population;
Recurrent training of education professionals;
Teacher Training Review, offering training courses and postgraduate scholarships and other specializations in the educational area,
Modernization of educational teaching materials for children and young people;
Modernization of schools with high-quality broadband internet and computer equipment
Public-private partnerships with institutions of higher education to carry out a scholarship program
Partnerships with the State Government and Federal Government, to receive funds for education area.
Question 6
The initiative should be able to be sustained over a significant period of time.
a. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable (covering the social, economic and environmental aspects) (300 words maximum)
Yes the Local Quality Education initiative - A Proposal for Life is Sustainable. And for more than 8 years it is part of the public policies of the municipality.
Within the social aspects the initiative is focused on the development of the most vulnerable population of the city, for the students of the municipal school network who do not have access to private schools.
In the economic aspect, with the population having access to quality education, young people and adults are given more professional qualification, to work within the companies and industries that are located in the municipality itself, education has become part of the virtuous circle of income generation of these young people and adults.
In the environmental aspect, through education, children and young people have access to participation in environmental projects of the Municipality with the secretariat of environment.
b. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable in terms of durability in time (300 words maximum)
The Local Quality Education initiative - A proposal for life, is sustainable in terms of durability of time, as it is part of the priority of the portfolio of public policies of the municipality. The Efficiency of the initiative presents itself as a virtuous circle, strengthened on the medium and long-term pillar of financial investment of local government, focusing on the goals of Agenda 2030 and fostering the already existing good results within the initiative, such as the recognition of the Education of Jaguariúna as Number 1 in quality of public school education, in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, with students in the first places in the National Mathematical Olympiads, recognition of PROUNI for higher education as a social program aimed at reducing inequalities.
Question 7
The initiative should have gone through a formal evaluation, showing some evidence of impact on improving people’s lives.
a. Has the initiative been formally evaluated?
Yes
If yes, please describe how the initiative was evaluated? (200 words maximum)
The initiative is formally evaluated annually through the registration of OPET Publishing, mainly in what concerns the training of the faculty and investment in updating their knowledge.
It is also formally evaluated through the national bodies through the Ministry of Education and formal surveys with the INDSAT Institute that assesses the degree of satisfaction of the population in relation to the efficiency of the public policies of the municipality.
b. Please describe the outcome of the evaluation of the impact of the initiative (200 words maximum)
The evaluations were very positive, because in 2015 and 2016 the city ranked first in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, in the National Assessment RANKING IDEB (Basic Education Index).
And in 2017, according to official survey of the INDSAT body, which measures the satisfaction index of the population, City Education ranked first in the metropolitan region of Campinas, in front of 15 other cities in the region.
c. Please describe the indicators that were used (200 words maximum)
Through external evaluations, where:
1- "PROVA BRASIL" applied for the 5th and 9th years of the network indicating goals and indexes to be achieved by the municipality. The body responsible for the elaboration as well as its application, correction and transmission of data is the MEC - Ministry of Education.
2- ANA - National Assessment of Literacy applied in the 3rd year of the network, indicating goals and indexes to be achieved by the municipality. The body responsible for the elaboration as well as its application, correction and transmission of data is the MEC - Ministry of Education.
3- "AVALIAR MAIS" - Applied evaluation for the 5th and 9th years of the network, indicating the levels of proficiency in each skill to be improved by the municipality. Habildiades these delineated by the Matrix of Reference of the Brazil Test. The agency responsible for the elaboration as well as its application, correction and sending of the data is a specialized consulting company contracted by the publisher OPET.
The Child Education carries out its evaluations by means of accompaniment in Portfolios, referring to hypotheses and accompaniment related to psychomotricity, numbers, alphabet and hypothesis of writing.
Question 8
The initiative must demonstrate that it has engaged various actors such as from other institutions, civil society, or the private sector, when possible.
a. The 2030 Development Agenda puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, coordination, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe what stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative. Please also highlight their roles and contributions (300 words maximum)
In the initiative "Local Quality Education - A Proposal for Life", the most vulnerable population has always been the main stakeholder of the initiative, collaborating in a participatory way in the decisions and direction of the initiative's actions.
The Initiative counts on the Municipal Education Council formed by representatives of civil society and local government to monitor the actions that encompass the initiative, year after year, always focusing on improvements.
Another partner of the initiative is the University Center of Jaguariuna (UNIFAJ) which is the main partner for the municipal PROUNI, giving to the students selected in PROUNI, part of the scholarship to the university. UNIFAJ participates with the local government in the initiative Local Quality Education - A proposal for Life, from the conception of PROUNI, supporting the initiative and indicating the best university courses in the institution, for indication to the students interested in the Scholarships.
Question 9
a. Please describe the key lessons learned, and any view you have on how to further improve the initiative (200 words maximum)
The initiative recognizes as Lessons Learned and Improvement the following items:
Lessons Learned:
1) Over time we realized that with the increase in the birth rate in the municipality, and due to the quality of public education, it is necessary to increase the number of places in day-care centers and increase the demand for full-time elementary school places through construction of schools.
2) For higher education, through PROUNI municipal, with the granting of scholarships, it was verified that before being offered the courses, one must do in advance a research with the interested young people, about which courses there is more desire of so that the demand for courses with the granting of scholarships is more assertive.
Improvements:
1) The municipality would like to expand the grading of classes in the municipal education network, with broader themes such as: Political Science, Robotics and Entrepreneurship.