In Brazil, between 2017 and 2025more than 300,000 children and adolescents who were out of school or at risk of evasion were identified and returned to the classrooms thanks to School active search. The data are being released on Monday (28) by UNICEF (United Nations Fund for Childhood), which coordinates the initiative in partnership with Undime (National Union of Municipal Education Leaders) to support states and municipalities in the confrontation of exclusion and school abandonment.
and brings data on school exclusion by states and municipalities, the profile of children and adolescents outside the school, and information on the active school search in each locality, with the Quantities of enrolled girls and boys (re), as well as the causes that led to exclusion.
“School exclusion is a multifactorial challenge, and the response to it also needs to be. With the school active search, managers and teams have access to data and can promote intersectoral performance, know who these children and adolescents arewhy are they out of school and, from that, Act, involving the areas of health, education, social assistance, among others. Com adhesion of more than 2 thousand municipalities and 21 statesthe strategy has been consolidating itself as a fundamental tool to ensure the right to education and face school abandonment and exclusion throughout the country, ”explains Mônica Dias Pinto, UNICEF’s head of education in Brazil.
Inequalities
The research reports that, even with the positive results of the initiative and the advances that Brazil has been achieving in recent decades, – age in which education is mandatory, according to PNAD Continuous 2024.
Boys represent 55% of the total, while girls are 45%. Regarding breed/color, 67% are black, brown or indigenous, which reinforces the need for them to face inequalities in a structured and intersectoral way.
The 15-17 year -old group concentrates the highest exclusion rate: there are 440,000 adolescents outside the school, just as they should be completing basic education. Exclusion also has a strong relationship with families’ income. Of the total of children and adolescents from 4 to 17 years outside the school, almost 400,000 live 20% poorer 20% families.
Regarding the territory, 195,000 of those outside school live in the countryside, while 797,000 are in the urban area – showing that even in regions with higher school concentration, there are still barriers that make it difficult to access and permanence in education.
Access to the day care: a right
Although nursery enrollment is not mandatory, access to early childhood education for babies and very young children from 0 to 3 years is a law guaranteed by law and fundamental for integral development. Currently, nearly 7 million children in this age group are out of day care (60% of the total), representing the largest group within the national analysis of continuous PNAD. , which provided for the inclusion of 50% of babies in day care centers until 2024. To reach this goal, the country needs to increase 1.2 million enrollment in day care.
Evaluation of the Active School Search
To evaluate the implementation of the strategy seeking school in states and municipalities, an analysis of its effectiveness was performed. In the analysis, among the municipalities participants, 70.8% recognize that BAE contributes to identifying children and adolescents in situations of vulnerability; 68.5% claim that the strategy provided greater agility in facing the causes of school exclusion; 67% point out more assertiveness in active search actions; and 58.1% report advances in identifying cases of violence.
At the state level, 72.5% of respondents point out that BAE helped direct focus on facing the causes of school exclusion; 66.5% recognize their contribution to identify situations of vulnerability among children and adolescents; 62% point out greater assertiveness in actions and 49% observe advances in identifying situations of violence involving children and adolescents.
The strategy is composed of a social methodology and a technological tool available free of charge to states and municipalities. It was developed by UNICEF and UNDIME with support from the freemas (National Collegiate of Municipal Social Assistance Managers) and the Conasems (National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats).
Adherence to the active school search and can be done through, which offers technical support, training materials and a digital platform to help public managers face school exclusion in a structural and intersectoral manner.
