FGV holds Executive Course in Early Childhood Policies for leaders in state of Piauí

FGV Projetos, the technical advisory arm of Fundação Getulio Vargas, in partnership with Espaço Àra and the Van Leer Foundation, held an Executive Course in Early Childhood Policies for 36 leaders in the state of Piauí between September 16 and 27, in conjunction with the Pact for the Children of Piauí, coordinated by the state’s first lady, Dr. Isabel Fonteles.

The course is part of a comprehensive strategy to train Piauí’s government employees to take a cross-cutting and intersectoral view of early childhood and to include children aged between zero and six years in the state government’s priorities in all sectors. In the first phase, representatives of different areas of the state government, the Legislative Assembly, the State Audit Court, the association of municipalities, the press and the Federal Senate were trained.

“We met our objective with great vigor: to bring together technical knowledge and public management tools, and to form a network to strengthen public policy on early childhood in Piauí. It was a very productive week, with great engagement from the students and lots of participation,” said project manager Alexis Vargas of FGV Projetos.

The governor of Piauí, Rafael Fonteles, opened the course on September 16 in the main office of the Piauí State Accounting Court. He stressed that the class was made up of senior leaders who have power and autonomy and who, once trained, will be able to contribute to long-term public policies for the benefit of Piauí’s children. “The effects of what we do in early childhood have repercussions decades down the road. We want a state policy on early childhood, not a government policy,” the governor said.

The course program mixes knowledge of public policy tools such as budgeting, monitoring and evaluation with scientific and economic aspects and best practices in early childhood policies, which are fundamental for prioritization and decision making.

Thematic content of in-person stage

On the first day of the course, there were three classes: “Nurturing, Comprehensive Care,” taught by Professor Adriana Alvarenga of UNICEF; “The Behavioral Science of Early Childhood,” taught by Sam Sternin, a professor and consultant at the Van Leer Foundation; and “Poverty, Racism, Inequality and Early Childhood,” taught by Dandara Ramos, a professor and researcher at Bahia Federal University.

On the second day (September 17), there were two classes, “Early Childhood Public Policies in Brazil” and “Collaborative Governance for Early Childhood,” taught by Professor Fernando Abrucio of FGV.

On September 18, there were four classes: “Children’s Development and Parental Well-Being: Impacts Throughout Life,” taught by Ana Luiza Colagrossi, a professor and the director of Espaço Àra; “The Public Early Childhood Budget,” taught by Pedro Marin of the Tide Setúbal Foundation; “Development in Early Childhood,” taught by Halim Girade, a professor, physician, former UNICEF employee and former national secretary for the promotion of human development; and “Bonding, Parenting and Home Visitation,” taught by Maria Beatriz Linhares, a professor at the Department of Neurosciences and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Sao Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School and a member of the Science for Childhood Center.
Finally, on September 19, André Portela, an economist, FGV professor and director of the FGV Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Brazil and Lusophone Africa, gave two lectures: “Why Invest in Early Childhood?” and “Monitoring and Evaluation of Early Childhood Policies.”

Online stage

At the end of the in-person stage, on September 19, the activities continued online between September 24 and 27, followed by the delivery of an end-of-course paper with a view to applying the concepts taught to Piauí’s circumstances.