Custo Aluno Qualidade (CAQ) na região do Alto Solimões: os desafios para o financiamento da educação básica em condições de qualidade

Abstract

This article analyzed current investment in Basic Education and the funding required to meet the Student-Quality Cost (CAQ) benchmark in the municipalities of the Alto Solimões region, Amazonas, taking into account territorial, social, and educational specificities. To this end, the study identified and analyzed the revenues allocated to education funding in the municipalities under investigation, comparing them to the amounts required to provide quality education based on the CAQ. A qualitative research approach was adopted, grounded in Historical-Dialectical Materialism—incorporating the categories of historicization, contradiction, and mediation—and utilizing the SimCAQ tool for budget simulation. Data sources included Summarized Budget Execution Reports (RREO), IBGE data, and educational indicators. The results reveal a strong reliance on constitutional transfers and FUNDEB, as well as the inadequacy of current funding mechanisms to ensure quality education in the Alto Solimões municipalities, even when constitutional minimum spending requirements for education are met. Thus, the study highlights the need to increase investment in Basic Education and strengthen the CAQ framework to guarantee the right to quality public education.