Between 2023 and 2025, to obtain a place in a public daycare center in the Federal District, 4,880 people requested help from the Office of the Public Defender of the Federal District (DPDF). After their children and wards were unable to access daycare through the Public Defender’s Office, 571 people filed suit to secure entry into the public education system.
One of the people who requested this service was a resident of Planaltina (DF), the tailor Lucivânia Nogueira da Silva, 55 years old. Responsible for raising her granddaughters, she had to appeal twice to the DPDF to guarantee the girls’ entry into a public nursery. For the youngest granddaughter, now 3 years old, it took a year to get a favorable decision and in the other case, she never got the place. “We tried to get a place, but we couldn’t. She went to school without getting a place in daycare,” says the grandmother.
This woman, who works independently, struggled to balance her professional life with her routine of caring for her granddaughters. “I left her with my paternal grandmother and sometimes with my aunt and, when there was no one to stay with her, I had to miss work,” he confessed.
In addition to the financial problem, the grandmother believes that the time spent away from daycare and other children has harmed her granddaughter’s development. “She has evolved a lot in the two years she has been in daycare,” Lucivânia said.
Increase in prosecutions
In 2023, 1,270 letters were written and 196 people ended up choosing to go to court to secure their place. There was an increase in 2024 compared to the previous year, where 1,850 people approached the Public Defender’s Office and 226 ended up asserting their rights to the judiciary.
Although fewer than in 2024, 1,760 parents and guardians requested help from the DPDF to enroll their little ones in early childhood education centers this year alone. Among them, 149 people filed a lawsuit.
See the numbers:
According to the DPDF, upon activation, the first step is to send a letter to the Ministry of Education and apply administratively for the vacant position, without the need to go to court. Legal action is only initiated when the Public Defender’s Office understands that there is no longer any extrajudicial solution.
For public defender Celestino Chupel, the DPDF works so that admission to daycare does not depend on the economic situation of the family, ensuring that access to justice is efficient and reaches those who need it most.
“A large part of the requests for crèches concern single mothers who depend on this place to remain in the labor market, which makes this action by the DPDF essential for social protection,” he explained.
Laura case
Little Laura Rebeca Ribeiro dos Santos, who died of asphyxiation last week, wearing a comfort belt in a clandestine private daycare, was waiting for a place in the public school system of the Federal District. The girl was 1 year and 4 months old.
The information was transmitted by the child’s grandmother, Aparecida Maria, to the Metropolises. In a statement, the DF Department of Education confirmed that the child was in the daycare queue.
“The child mentioned was waiting for a place in a public crèche, had his registration validated in April and was regularly registered for care according to the flow of calls from the network, depending on the supply of available places. The offer varies depending on the age of the child, the school region and the reception capacity of each unit,” he added.
Laura died while in the care of a caregiver who turned her home into an illegal daycare.
For activist Marisa Chaves, coordinator of the São Gonçalo Women’s Movement, this affair highlights the insufficient coverage of public daycare centers in Brazil.
“The lack of investment in daycare centers increases the helplessness of thousands of mothers, especially those who work and who do not have a family network capable of contributing to the care of babies while the parents work,” he explained.
The Federal District and Territorial Court of Justice (TJDFT) began an unprecedented mediation process in 2023, called Project Inspira, in collaboration with the Federal District Government (GDF).
Project Inspira was developed as part of a public civil action to universalize early childhood education services – a daycare that has been pending before the judiciary for more than three decades. Among the results obtained during the negotiations, the establishment of a working group responsible for revising the Procedures Manual for childcare services in early childhood education – Daycare stands out.
The new version of the manual presents significant advances, particularly with regard to the grading structure, developed on the basis of technical discussions and the practical experience of participants to meet the demands of society. Among the main improvements, we can cite the following:
- Socio-economic criteria, with a rating by income bracket;
- Inclusion of health requirements previously not covered;
- Aspects linked to family structure and security conditions;
- Revision of SEEDF procedures for greater clarity and efficiency of the service, including the establishment of criteria for refusing places offered to families.
What the secretariat says
The Department of Education of the Federal District claims to be making significant progress in the expansion of early childhood education services, with a continuous and structured increase in the number of places. “In 2019, the waiting list for crèches reached around 24 thousand children. Currently, the deficit is 4,569 places, all of which should be served at the start of the 2026 school year,” he said in a press release.
Since 2019, the Ministry of National Education has officially opened 22 nurseries and Early Childhood Education Centers (Cepis). Four other units are already completed and awaiting the necessary procedures for their opening, in addition to eight Cepis under construction. Today, 38,603 children are cared for in public daycare centers in the Federal District.
“The Secretariat emphasizes that these actions are part of the early childhood education expansion policy, the objective of which is to universalize access to this stage of basic education by 2026,” explained the Secretariat.
To apply for a place in daycare, simply register on the Ministry of Education website.
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