Transfers benefit 291.4 thousand students who depend on boats, especially in the North Region; support is part of the National School Transport Support Program
The (Ministry of Education), through the (National Education Development Fund), completed the payment of the additional 50% allocated to waterway school transport. The 2025 installment, released in November, transferred R$31.2 million to 421 municipalities and states, benefiting 291,400 basic education students who depend on boats to get to school, especially in the North region.
The values were calculated based on the number of students registered in the School Census, carried out by Inep. The resource must be applied to expenses such as vessel maintenance, fuel, insurance and other operational costs, according to .
The transfer is part of the (National School Transport Support Program), which offers technical and financial assistance to municipal and state networks, with a focus on serving students in rural areas. In the case of waterway transport, the MEC states that the additional payment is essential to mitigate challenges typical of riverside regions, such as high operating costs, precarious routes and seasonal changes in river conditions.
In states such as Pará and Amazonas, which have some of the largest waterway routes in the country, financial reinforcement is considered strategic to ensure continuity of service and increase the safety and quality of school travel. According to the ministry, the measure reinforces the commitment to educational inclusion and the reduction of territorial inequalities.
