Credenciamento e autorização de funcionamento de instituições particulares de educação infantil de Santa Maria - RS: dilemas e desafios

Abstract

The research, resulting from the monographic work of the Specialization Course on Educational Management of the Graduate Program in Public Policies and Educational Management, Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), aims to analyze the accreditation process and authorization of private institutions with exclusive offer of Early Childhood Education in the city of Santa Maria - RS and the interrelationships with the performance of the Municipal Council of Education (CME). To elucidate this process, a case study was developed, based on the documental analysis of current educational legislation and of the supervision of the private teaching network offers in Early Childhood Education. A semistructured interview was also performed with a member of the Municipal Council of Education of Santa Maria, responsible for authorizing the operation and supervision of institutions belonging to the Municipal Education System. From the collected data, it was verified that from 56 private institutions in the city only 18 are authorized to operate by the CME. The remaining institutions are registered with the Commercial Board of the City, using CNPJ (National Register of Legal Entities) as commerce entity, without having sought the CME to forward the authorization process to act as school institution, thus operating in irregular or clandestine manner. The presence of these institutions in the city demonstrate that companies that do not comply the criteria for authorization and accreditation established by the Municipal Curricular Guidelines for Early Childhood Education, continue to offer vacancies as if they were Child Education Institutions, disobeying the legal prescript and rights to quality early childhood education.