Brazilian companies that produce Braille textbooks say a delay by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government could leave blind and low-vision students without adapted books at the start of the 2027 school year, according to single-source reporting from Folha de S.Paulo.
The concern centers on a procurement notice that has not yet been published by the National Fund for Education Development (FNDE), the federal agency linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Education that buys and distributes school materials. Publishers told Folha that Braille-and-print editions take six to nine months to produce, including transcription, specialized review, printing on special paper and national distribution.
Why Timing Matters
The companies say FNDE normally needs to issue its calls between May and July of the previous year for books to reach schools before classes begin in February. As of Folha’s July 16 report, that had not happened for the 2027 materials.
The Brazilian Association of the Assistive Technology Industry, Commerce and Services for People with Disabilities (Abridef) said a similar delay affected students at the beginning of 2026. The group described that episode as “an institutional and pedagogical crisis without precedent” and estimated that about 45,000 school-age students were affected.
For 2027, the expected order covers about 30,000 books for the early years of elementary school, from first through fifth grade. The National Textbook Program (PNLD), Brazil’s federal system for evaluating, buying and distributing public-school books, serves schools in federal, state, municipal and district networks.
Government Response
FNDE told Folha there is no delay in preparing the accessible material for 2027. In a statement, the agency said the accessibility notice follows the PNLD calendar and depends on earlier stages of the program, especially the selection of books by school systems.
Folha said it asked FNDE specifically when the purchase call would be published and whether it might not be released in July. The agency did not answer those questions, according to the newspaper.
FNDE also said 16,652 books for the early and final years of elementary school were sent this year, with 16,147 already delivered. Materials for Youth and Adult Education, known in Brazil as EJA, are in transcription and validation, with delivery expected at the beginning of the second half of the year, the agency said.
A Repeated Problem
Rodrigo Rosso, Abridef’s president, told Folha that the production chain knows how to handle the process, but depends on predictable contracts.
“The process is known, structured and technically mastered by the production chain. What weighs is contractual predictability. When the notice does not come out in the proper window, the whole schedule locks up,” Rosso said.
Folha has reported previous problems in the PNLD pipeline. In 2024, the newspaper said FNDE had accumulated delays in contracting textbooks and literary books. Some works expected to reach schools in 2022 and 2023 had still not been contracted, while publishers warned of risks to timely delivery.
In 2025, Folha reported that the Education Ministry had not bought all books needed for 2026. According to the publishing market cited by the newspaper, at least 52 million books had not yet been ordered, mainly for the final years of elementary school. Brazil’s Federal Audit Court later opened an investigation into the program’s execution.
Abridef now says the missing 2027 notice could repeat the shortage seen at the start of this year. FNDE says the regular administrative schedule is being followed, budget money is allocated for accessible materials and service to visually impaired students remains a priority.