Financeirização da educação básica: oferta educacional do grupo Salta em João Pessoa/PB

Abstract

Financialization and, in conjunction, neoliberalism gained strength in Brazil in the 1990s, transforming education into a market sector, with the entry of educational groups and investment funds into the control of educational institutions, under the logic of financial speculation. The study aims to analyze the education offering of the Salta group in the financialization of basic education in João Pessoa (PB). The research, of a bibliographical and exploratory nature, with a quantitative and qualitative approach, uses the case study of the ISO network, a subsidiary of the Salta group, in João Pessoa. The theoretical framework is based on Adrião (2015), Bressan (2018), Brettas (2013), Chaves (2010), Leher (2023), among others, who address the financialization of education in Brazil, mediated by the contradictions between state policies and the interests of the ruling class. Documental analysis, based on Gil (2002) and Lakatos and Marconi (2003), using basic education censuses and reports from the Salta group, guided the investigation into how the group fits into the process of educational financialization. Financialization refers to a new model of capital accumulation, shifting its focus from the productive sector to the financial sector, reorienting the functioning of companies and influencing people's behavior. The research indicates that the Salta group is embedded in the process of the financialization of basic education in Brazil, adopting strategies guided by financial and speculative logic, aiming at profit maximization and shareholder returns through acquisitions and sales, expansion of school units and enrollments, and an increased geographical presence of schools in Brazil and João Pessoa.