Brazil top court rules government must offer daycare, pre-school spots

Brazil’s Supreme Court decided it is the state’s duty to ensure daycare and pre-school spots for children aged up to five years old. The country’s top court Thursday (Sep 22) unanimously confirmed the guarantee, which can be found in an article of the Constitution.

Even though the right is vested in the law, the Supreme Court had to rule on the issue because several cities have been sued by parents of children in search of vacancies. City authorities claim they do not have the resources to secure enrollment.

The vote of Justice Luiz Fux, rapporteur in the case, prevailed. In his understanding, the right to early childhood education is enshrined in the legislation and may not be denied without reasonable grounds.

The decision

At the end of the hearing, the plenary session decided to approve a thesis to be observed in ongoing lawsuits on the same matter throughout the country.

“Child education includes day-care (zero through three years old) and pre-school (four through five). Its offer by the government can be demanded individually, as seen in this case. The state has the legal duty to give full effect to constitutional rules regarding access to basic education,” the court stated.

How it started

The case that motivated the ruling was an appeal filed by the municipality of Criciúma, Santa Catarina state, against a state court decision that required the municipal government to offer a day-care center to a poor child.