The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said this Friday (10) that he should include in the federal government’s package of measures against debt students who are in arrears with payments from the Higher Education Student Financing Fund (FIES). Lula, however, did not detail how the process of renegotiating these debts would take place.
“The debt of the FIES boys is increasing. And we are going to have to include them in our debt negotiation as well. We cannot take away the dream of a young man who owes his university course”, said Lula, when inaugurating, in Sorocaba (SP), a new unit of the Federal Institute of São Paulo (IFSP).
“He [o estudante] he will pay his debt by being a competent professional, because if he is a competent professional, he will improve the productive quality of our country”, highlighted the president.
Data from the Ministry of Education (MEC), from October 2025, show that 160 thousand students are in arrears with FIES installments, which represents R$1.8 billion in outstanding balance.
Investment
The president once again stressed that resources allocated to education should be seen as an investment and not as an expense. Lula reinforced that he maintains the conviction that the country’s development is directly linked to the expansion of education in the country.
“No one will take away from me the conviction that there is no other way for Brazil to define itself as a highly developed country from a democratic point of view, from a civilizational point of view, from a technological point of view, from an economic point of view, other than investing in education.”
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The president compared the resources needed to support a student and an incarcerated person.
“A prisoner, in the maximum security federal prison, costs R$40,000 per year. In other prisons, R$35,000 per year. A student, at the Federal Institute, costs R$16,000 per year, that is, half of what a criminal costs”, he said.
“We invest in criminals when we don’t invest in education,” he added.
Parliamentary amendments
In his speech, the president suggested that each federal deputy and each senator commit to using parliamentary amendments to create a school in the country. According to Lula, if parliamentarians adopted the idea, the education problem would be solved in Brazil.
“Let’s assume that each deputy has R$40 million per year for amendments. Each deputy and each senator. Imagine if they all took on the responsibility of financing the construction of a school. There are 513 deputies, there are 513 schools. There are 81 senators, there are 81 schools. We have solved the education problem”, he added.
Trump
At the end of the speech, in a joking tone, Lula said that if the American president knew what a Pernambuco native was, he wouldn’t make threats against Brazil. Lula highlighted, however, that the country is peaceful and values peace and love.
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“If he knew what a nervous northeaster was like, he wouldn’t play with Brazil,” he said.
“In any case, we don’t want war. We want peace. We want to have access to culture, touring, studying, dating, playing. Whoever wants war, go to the other side of the planet, because here we are the land of peace and love”, he added.
IFSP
The new unit of the federal institute inaugurated this Friday in Sorocaba was made possible by the New Growth Acceleration Program (New PAC).
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Opened in 2024, the facilities have 4,600 square meters of built area, and will offer a complete structure for technical and technological education, including classroom blocks, workshop-type laboratories and an administrative block.
