Controle social no programa nacional de alimentação escolar: um estudo multi-caso de conselhos paranaenses

Abstract

In 2020, the Brazilian School Feeding Program (PNAE) turns 65 and currently aims to contribute to biopsychosocial growth and development, learning, school performance and the formation of healthy eating habits of students. However, one of the critical points for its proper operation refers to the performance of the School Feeding Council (CAE), the PNAE’s first instance of control. The performance of Public Policy Management Councils, such as the CAE, in general, has not generated the results sought by those who foresaw social participation as a tool for broadening democracy and controlling public policies. To contribute to the reflection on strategies for strengthening the School Food Councils, the objective was to analyze normative, bureaucratic, political and organizational aspects that enhance and / or limit the performance of the Paraná State School Food Councils. For this purpose, this work developed a multi-case study with four PPAs and was preceded by an exploratory bibliography research phase and secondary data on PNAE and PPA, allowing the survey of potentialities and limitations of social control in the context of school meals. Among the main results, common characteristics in the analysis group stand out, such as the supervised social control and the expectation that it is a mere legitimizer of public management acts as external limitations and the difficulty of organization and strategic action, lack of knowledge about the attributions and legislation, as internal factors. Regarding the potentials, it was found that despite the expectations of public agents, the cases presented did not show barriers to independent action, including the opening for CAE to participate in other agendas related to education. Regarding internal factors, the CAE’s commitment and consistent performance contributed to the improvement of the PNAE in various operational aspects.