HEIRS OF THE PANDEMIC: SCHOOL DELAYS AND NEW EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SAMPLE SURVEY (PNAD) – 2024

Abstract

This article analyzes the educational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, with an emphasis on academic delays and social, racial, and territorial inequalities expressed in data from the 2024 Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua). Using a qualitative approach based on documentary and statistical analysis, the study examines how the health crisis interrupted educational processes and intensified exclusions that were already present in the Brazilian educational structure. Indicators such as illiteracy, age-grade gap, net enrollment rate, and school dropout rates among young people aged 14 to 29 are discussed. The results indicate that, despite advances in years of study and literacy, there was stagnation or regression in goals set by the National Education Plan (PNE), especially with regard to the universalization of Basic Education and inclusion in Secondary and Higher Education. The analysis reveals that educational losses hit vulnerable groups more severely – blacks, browns, populations from the North and Northeast, and low-income young people. Furthermore, the article discusses the overload of teaching work during the pandemic and the fragility of public policies to guarantee conditions for students to remain in school. It is concluded that the school delay in 2024 is not limited to a temporary consequence of the pandemic, but rather highlights a process of reproduction of educational inequalities, requiring structural measures to restore learning and guarantee the right to education.