Impactos da precarização da educação na saúde dos professores da educação básica

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the impacts of the precarization of education on the health of basic education teachers, with emphasis on the Northeast region of Brazil, in light of Brazilian educational legislation. It is based on the understanding of fundamental rights of the second generation, especially the right to education and the right to decent work, situating them as interdependent pillars for the effectiveness of the legal order. The research problematizes the contradiction between norms that guarantee student access and permanence and the absence of consistent policies for teacher appreciation, which result in work overload, low wages, and physical and mental illness. The study is inserted in a context marked by recent reforms, especially the New Secondary Education (Novo Ensino Médio), whose implementation altered curricular organization without adequate counterpart in working conditions, expanding responsibilities and worsening the precariousness of teaching. The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on bibliographic review and documentary analysis, including legislation, reports from official bodies such as MEC, INEP, and OECD, as well as statistical data from IBGE, DIEESE, and the National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE). The latter, in its 2023 survey, presents alarming diagnoses regarding teachers’ health, revealing high rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and medical leave, especially in the Northeast, where the worst salary and structural conditions of the profession are concentrated. The results indicate that precarization is not restricted to the individual but directly affects the quality of education, undermining the effectiveness of the social right provided for in the 1988 Constitution. It is concluded that the critical analysis of educational reforms and current legislation reveals a normative imbalance: while expanding students’ rights, the protection of teachers’ work is neglected, reinforcing the urgency of public policies that reconcile access, permanence, and teacher appreciation as indispensable conditions for consolidating quality education in Brazil.