Analysis of the efficiency of municipalities from the Brazilian State of Sergipe: a comparison of the results in Brazil’s evaluation of its basic education system and investments on education

Abstract
Objective: To identify the efficiency of municipalities in the Brazilian State of Sergipe in promoting satisfactory education levels from the resources aimed at this sector. Method: A qualitative research was used with the application of Data Envelopment Analysis as a technique for measuring the performance of the municipalities assessed. Municipal expenditure on education and financial resources received from the Brazilian fund FNDE were selected as input variables. The results of municipalities in the Brazilian national exam of Prova Brasil, for students in basic education, were used as outputs variables. Results: The results indicate that higher expenditure in education does not necessarily ensure high educational performance, as municipalities with tighter budgets can reach better results in the sector analysed. Following the targets set in the current analysis, municipalities deemed inefficient were suggested to maintain or even reduce the resources applied on education, while also increasing the scores obtained in Prova Brasil. Contributions to the study: The present study can be considered a reference tool for municipal authorities to establish strategies aiming towards the efficiency in the consumption of resources, while also delivering better services to the community. In addition, this study plays a supporting role to society, in helping them understand the performance of their municipality in Prova Brasil, thus creating subsidies to request greater transparency from local authorities.