School Attendance of “Bolsa Família” Students Reaches 91 Percent

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Students benefiting from the Bolsa Família program recorded record attendance in the classroom in June and July of this year.

Data from the Ministry of Education (MEC) show the presence of 12.5 million students between the ages of 6 and 17 in schools during this period. The number represents 91.18 percent of the total of 13.7 million students whose families are beneficiaries of the program. This is the highest percentage ever since the program began in 2007.

One of the requirements for maintaining the Bolsa Família benefit is precisely the school attendance of children and adolescents served.

Every two months, public schools must record the attendance of students, using the MEC system. The data is then sent to the Ministry of Citizenship, which is responsible for Bolsa Família.

In his Twitter account, President Jair Bolsonaro highlighted the mark. He posted, “More students benefitting from the Bolsa Família are being monitored.”

According to MEC, it is the third two-month period of monitoring school attendance. In the period of April and May, out of about 14 million students attended and 12.6 million were monitored, or 89.81 percent of the total attendees.

In February and March, the first data collection period of this year, there was also a record in the monitoring of those covered by the program. The index reached 90.31 percent, while 12 years ago, in the same time period, 66.22 percent were registered.

If they fail to comply with the minimum school attendance required by the program, the families of children and adolescents may be warned or have the benefit suspended, blocked, or canceled.

The Bolsa Família is intended for families with a monthly income of R$89 to R$178 per person and is only transferred if school attendance for children and adolescents from 6 to 15 years old is at least 85 percent and 75 percent for young people from 16 to 17 years old.

Bolsa Família is a social welfare program of the government of Brazil, part of the network of federal assistance programs. Bolsa Família provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families; and if they have children, families must ensure that the children attend school and are vaccinated.