Created in 2025, the project offers students knowledge that goes beyond financial education. The proposal addresses topics such as consumer rights, financial planning, conscious use of products and services, behavior and psychological aspects related to consumption, in addition to the importance of correct waste disposal and environmental preservation.
The initiative is developed by the Municipal Administration through the Municipal School of Education for Consumption, located in a space attached to Procon. The expectation is to help students develop, from an early age, more responsible habits in their relationship with money, consumption and the environment. With the opening of the new class, Montes Claros expands the action aimed at citizenship training and preparing young people to make more conscious decisions in their daily lives.
Student Ana Clara dos Santos Marques, 12 years old, participated in the master class and answered questions with the speakers. "I thought it was great and really cool. I learned a lot about financial education and that we are consumers from when we are born until we die", highlighted the sixth-year elementary school student at Escola Municipal Alcides Carvalho.
BIRTH OF THE PROJECT – The history of the school is directly linked to the exercise of citizenship. The project began to be conceived from the initiative of a resident of Montes Claros who contacted the Public Ministry to report a charge considered undue. The case resulted in a public civil action and, later, a settlement. Part of the resources arising from this agreement was used to renovate the Procon headquarters in Montes Claros and build the Municipal School of Education for Consumption.
The individual initiative ended up giving rise to a project with collective reach. The proposal is to use education as an instrument to prevent conflicts in consumer relations and form new generations more aware of their rights and duties. Among the problems that the school intends to tackle are low financial literacy, lack of knowledge of consumer rights, inappropriate use of credit and the increasing influence of advertising and digital networks on purchasing decisions.
DIGITAL ERA – The advancement of digital platforms and new technologies has expanded consumption possibilities, but also brought new challenges. Advertising directed by algorithms, purchases made through applications, over-indebtedness, online betting and consumerism are among the topics that become part of the discussion on economic citizenship.
For the prosecutor and Regional Coordinator of Consumer Protection of Montes Claros, Felipe Gonçalves Caires, preparing young people for this reality is a necessity. "In an era of algorithms, digital platforms, over-indebtedness, problems with betting, consumerism and the urgency for sustainability, it is essential that we work with consumer education for our young people. Also because they will also be future suppliers and thus will tend to collaborate on these issues", he highlights.
The school's pedagogical proposal is structured based on the concept of economic citizenship. The contents must address financial planning, ethical and sustainable consumption, legal consumer protection, safe use of digital technologies, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, innovation, citizen participation and socio-environmental responsibility. The intention is to bring this knowledge closer to the daily reality of students and other participants, allowing the content to have practical application in people's lives.
PERMANENT TRAINING – The pedagogical coordinator of the Municipal School of Consumer Education, Elisângela Mesquita Silva, explains that the methodology aims to work with concrete experiences and situations present in everyday life. “The Municipal Consumer School promotes continued and permanent training through experience, linking knowledge to the everyday experiences of citizens and contributing to more conscious and balanced consumer relationships”, he explains.
In addition to students, the unit should work on the continued training of educators and public servants. The idea is that knowledge about consumer relations is disseminated inside and outside the school environment, strengthening a culture of prevention, information and citizenship.
The establishment of the school places Montes Claros in a position of national prominence in the area of consumer education. The expectation is that the project will become a reference in the training of citizens capable of making financial and consumer decisions with more information, responsibility and awareness.
