The Governance of Special Education in Brazil: the Institutional Reconfiguration of National Policy through Decree No. 12.686/2025

Abstract

This article analyzes the governance of Special Education in Brazil, focusing on the institutional reconfiguration introduced by Decree No. 12.686/2025, which establishes the National Policy on Inclusive Special Education and creates the National Network for Inclusive Special Education, in dialogue with the legal framework of the right to inclusive education in Brazil. The objective is to examine the extent to which this new normative and institutional framework strengthens the conditions for implementing inclusive education policies within education systems. The study adopts a qualitative, bibliographic, and documentary approach, also considering the changes introduced by Decree nº 12.773/2025. The results indicate that the 2008 National Policy on Special Education from the Perspective of Inclusive Education played a central role in consolidating regular schools as the primary space for the schooling of students targeted by Special Education, although its implementation has faced structural limitations related to federative coordination, professional training, and funding. The analysis shows that Decree nº 12.686/2025 shifts the debate toward governance, intergovernmental coordination, and policy monitoring. It concludes that the effectiveness of Inclusive Special Education depends on the integration of normative guarantees, institutional organization, adequate funding, clear allocation of responsibilities, and pedagogical transformation, in order to ensure access, permanence, participation, and learning for students targeted by Special Education.