Abstract:

The European states protagonise social protection programs and differentiated levels of expansion of education. It is known that expansion of the enrolled student population in recent decades, with undeniable enlargement at the higher levels of education systems, has imposed changes in the traditional models of education funding. High levels of investment in the education systems are a concern of countries that experience high levels of development, with societies more protected from the kinds of phenomena such as poverty and social exclusion. On the other hand, some European countries that were increasing, progressively, the investment for the education and for the extension (late) of schooling, are now, facing a crisis of major proportions, reviewing educational priorities and redefining a strategic model for economic and social development, which refers to a fundamental reflection on the intervention of the state in this area. In an exploratory way, there are some indications that highlight the fact that the global financial crisis seems to affect mainly the countries with weak welfare states or in contraction, showing irregular dynamics of investment in education and its institutions, reflected in historical processes showing a hard effectiveness in certification of their populations.
The proposed analysis draws on one of the more relevant efforts to the characterization of the states, with regards to the model proposed by Esping-Andersen, although this author tends to circumvent the integration of education in the classification criteria of the profiles of states and public social programs identified. The aim is to materialize substantive relationships between profiles of state and social protection and specific patterns of spending on education in various configurations of the states. To analyze some of its contents, some statistical indicators were selected that express, albeit illustrative, some of the most relevant public strategies in this regard. The analyses are based on an extensive methodology, more specifically the processing of statistics spread by international agencies.
What is proposed, therefore, is an analysis of configurations of states, identifying strategies and priorities in the face of social protection and public education (in relation to its funding and resources, as well as schemes to support the students or their families). This perspective allows us to dynamically analyze some institutional indicators (from Eurostat and OECD) and their settings in joint reading of those dimensions, based on a multivariate analysis (namely Multiple Correspondence Analysis).

Keywords:

Education systems, schooling, Social State, funding, Europe.