Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Vocation education is decisive to improve productivity in Brazil, support economic growth and foster citizens’ social-development. To address this issue, in 2011, an umbrella program called the National Program of Access to Professional Education and Employment (PRONATEC) was launched. Dilma Rousseff was the policy entrepreneur, influencing the agenda-setting and the formulation process. The main result was PRONATEC’s orientation to promote low-income community access to tertiary education. Attaching the program to social policies was part of a political approach that, ultimately, sustained Dilma’s reelection campaign.

This close relationship between politics and policy became clear when government budgetary constraints resulted into cuts in PRONATEC, revealing serious inconsistencies. This paper conducts a policy cycle analysis to identify problems and review the program. It highlights that, at formulation, PRONATEC did not provide a match between supply and demand at the labor market and did not consider policy sustainability. At decision-making, short-term gains were prioritized. Finally, at evaluation, monitoring and accountability tools were precarious, just as monitoring procedure were not carried out properly by the government.