Economy vetoes MEC project to divide universities into central strongholds

The team of the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, decided to veto the project sponsored by the MEC (Ministry of Education) to create universities and federal institutes based on the dismemberment of campuses already in operation.

The economic area resists the initiative because of the increase in expenses, with no forecast of new places for students. The plan embraced by the Minister of Education, Pastor Milton Ribeiro, arose to meet the interests of central politicians, allies of the government.

The initial idea was to create five universities and five federal technical institutes from units that already exist, according to the draft project obtained by leaf. This would mean the creation of 2,912 positions to run these new institutions that, in practice, are already functioning.

This swelling of the public machine would come with an increase in expenses, which could reach R$ 500 million per year, according to estimates by the Ministry of Economy. The MEC projected a smaller impact, of R$ 147 million per year.

No amount, however, is foreseen in the 2022 Budget bill sent to Congress, and depending on Guedes’ team, it will not be in the final version of the law.

Questioned, the Ministry of Economy says that the matter is still under discussion in the portfolio, but the refusal of the MEC project was confirmed to the leaf by members of the folder involved in this analysis. In addition, the Minister of Education himself has spoken to congressmen about the formal denial he received from the economic area.

The MEC was contacted and did not respond.

According to reports, the MEC warned Economy that it would forward a new text proposal that would respond to the criticisms made by Guedes’ team. However, behind the scenes, the economics technicians who analyzed the project believe that the problems pointed out are unavoidable.

Milton Ribeiro has been seeking support in Congress to implement the proposal. For him, the message of creating units, even if only in name, would be a positive agenda for the government and its management in particular. The minister spoke with the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), this week.

The institutions that would be dismembered were against the initiative. The idea is not supported by a real expansion project with academic criteria.

In the case of universities, the forecast, until October, was to split campuses in institutions in Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Espírito Santo and Piauí. The last state is the electoral base of the leader of the centrão and the minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI).

At the federal institutes, new units would emerge from divisions in São Paulo, Goiás and Paraná. Interlocutors point out the electoral interest of political politicians, including the leader of the government in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR), and Major Vitor Hugo (PSL-GO).

The MEC has expanded this list in recent months. The IFPI (Federal Institute of Piauí) and the IFPE (Federal Institute of Pernambuco) had already rejected the idea in August, after consulting the academic community, but they were once again considered in the MEC’s ​​plans.

The IFPE rectory received a new statement from the MEC about the plan last month. The new unit, which would be called Instituto Federal do Agreste, would have 8 of the 16 IFPE campuses. The ministry itself informed the institute that it was a demand from congressmen, including the leader of the government in the Senate, Fernando Bezerra (MDB-PE).

IFPE’s rector, José Carlos de Sá, said that the division would result in the disarticulation of the institute’s research force, in addition to not creating any vacancies for students, no new campuses and still increasing costs.

“There was no technical study, it was the institution that leaned to debate. The justification is purely political, of serving interests, there is nothing to support this proposal,” said the dean. “When you say you are going to create a new institution, it is information that may seem positive. But dividing an institution that already exists is something else.”

IFPE professors created a movement against the division. “Overlapping a decision already taken by the academic community represents, in this sense, an authoritarian and anti-democratic measure”, says a letter from the servers.

The creation of units, even without foreseeing new vacancies, represents gains in electoral strongholds. Politicians are interested in increasing federal investment in these locations.

They also aim at potential real estate gains. It is common, for example, that there are land donations for new campuses with an eye on valuing the surroundings, according to reports by former secretaries of higher education at the ministry.

Ribeiro gives in to the interests of the center despite the contradiction with his own speech. The minister has already said that the university should be for a few and that Brazil made a mistake, in previous governments, by investing more in higher education than in basic education.

The plan also does not dialogue with the budget reality of the MEC. Federal higher education institutions have undergone budget reductions since at least 2015.

Under the Bolsonaro government, they face cuts and freezes — the federal government in Rio de Janeiro, for example, even threatened to close its doors this year.