O Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar na Rede Federal de Educação Profissional, Científica e Tecnológica: cenários, desafios e possibilidades

Abstract

Food must be understood as a right of the population guaranteed by the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988, among other legal provisions. In this perspective, the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) was created to certify the supply of food in the school environment, contributing to biopsychosocial growth and development, learning, school performance and the formation of healthy eating habits. With the sanction of Law No. 11,947 of 2009, its service was expanded to the entire public basic education network, making it imperative to adapt schools that did not offer school meals for secondary education, including the institutions of the Federal Education Network Professional, Scientific and Technological (EPCT). Faced with the challenges of this process, the objective of this work was to evaluate the implementation of the PNAE in the Federal EPCT Network. This is an applied research carried out through a cross-sectional, prospective, quali-quantitative, observational, descriptive and analytical study that used as data collection techniques the literature review, document analysis, participant observation and the application of a semi-structured form sent via email. The data obtained were tabulated in the Google Sheets platform and the results of the descriptive analyzes were expressed in relative and absolute frequency. Statistical analyzes and graphing were performed using the R software, version 4.1.0. To analyze the answers to the open questions, the method of Content Analysis by Bardin (2011) was used. The results indicate an increase from 27.1% to 76.1% in the percentage of implementation of the PNAE in the Federal EPCT Network, since the study carried out by Costa (2015). Two institutions reported not having implemented the PNAE in any of their units, both institutions in the North region, reinforcing the importance of studies that analyze the particularities of the PNAE in these institutions. Most participating units use decentralized PNAE purchasing management, totaling 58.2%, but the repercussion of this preference in the Network's schools is not yet known. Among the solutions proposed for the operational difficulties in implementing the Program, the categories indicated in the questionnaire stand out: in planning the use of resources from the National Program for Student Assistance and funding; in the acquisition of foodstuffs, the formation of specific commissions for these works and the dissemination of public calls on radio, TV and other means of communication was evident; in the receipt, storage and distribution of foodstuffs, the use of ready-to-eat foods and interns or scholarship holders to assist in the Program execution stages are highlighted; in the execution of the menu and rendering of accounts, the articulation with the Administrative Sectors regarding the financial execution of the Program and the elaboration of projects in the area of Food and Nutritional Education (EAN) stood out. As for the results of the participant observation, carried out at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Tocantins (IFTO), it was observed that the engagement of servers with the PNAE occurred from knowledge about the Program. Some solutions for the operational difficulties found by the IFTO were similar to those mentioned in the questionnaire by other institutions in the Network, namely: articulation with the State and Municipal Education Departments for the mapping of family farming products; the choice of easy-to-handle items for the menu and the participation of servants in a training course for better execution of the Program. In general, there was an evolution of the PNAE in institutions of the Federal EPCT Network, especially in the IFTO.