Education Minister joins Lula against spending cuts in the department

Education Minister Camilo Santana joined President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in rejecting the federal government's spending cuts, especially in the department, which is constantly demanded by the productive sector to avoid an increase in taxes.

More recently, the government found itself in the midst of a crisis caused by the increase in the IOF (Tax on Financial Transactions) and the announcement of measures to compensate for the subsequent reduction. Even so, it planned to tax exempt investments in order to balance the public accounts.

“I am absolutely against any cuts to education. However, I was a manager and I know that for the government to meet social demands and make investments, it needs to have fiscal balance. We need to have a more in-depth debate. Brazil is a very unequal country and the concentration of income is very high. So, those who have more need to pay more,” he said in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo published this Monday (23).

Camilo Santana defended the universalization of the Pé-de-Meia program, Lula's main campaign this year, which currently serves 4 million students at an annual cost of R$12 billion. In total, the public school system has 6.7 million students in high school – which, according to the minister, reinforces the need for expansion.

“And it is the president’s wish as well. But it is limited by this budget issue. If we could implement it, as well as extending full-time, it will have a huge impact on the end,” he pointed out.

The Ministry of Education's budget was cut by almost R$3 billion in 2025, which was directly criticized by the minister. According to him, there is a disparity in the federal budget, especially in the significant increase in parliamentary amendments, which jumped from R$8 billion to more than R$50 billion in just a few years, while the resources allocated to the department continue to fall.

According to him, these resources could be integrated more strategically into public policies, under the coordination of the Executive. Camilo Santana justifies this by stating that the people elected Lula to govern the country, but it is Congress that is executing the budget.

“The president was elected to govern the country, based on proposals that were presented to the population. The role of the Legislature is, in addition to legislating, to prepare the budget, but within what the government has established as a priority, because, I repeat, we are in a democracy and the government was elected,” he declared.

The minister's criticism comes amid a scenario of heightened discussions about fiscal balance. In early June, proposals such as the end of the constitutional minimum wage for education and health were debated.