The Faculty of Education of Unicamp (FE-Unicamp) was present, on August 9, at the inauguration of the new Child Development Center (Cedei) of the Social Service of Commerce (Sesc), in São Paulo, through the associate coordinator of the Pedagogy course at FE-Unicamp, professor Gabriela Tebet.
She attended the event to discuss possible partnerships between the university and the Child Development Center in the field of outreach, given the center's similarity to the training offered by the School of Education. "It's a unit that's emerging with the goal of being a benchmark in Early Childhood Education, an inspiration for the municipal and private education systems, for all researchers, and for the field of Early Childhood Education," she reported.
The facility replaces the former unit, founded in 1980, which operated in a rented mansion and closed in 2019. The land on which the new building was constructed, in the Belém region of São Paulo, was acquired in 2011. Construction began in 2020, with an architectural design developed specifically for Early Childhood Education, including facilities and furniture geared towards universal accessibility. Now, in the second half of 2025, Cedei will officially resume its activities.
Tebet, who represented the Faculty's Board of Directors at the event, met with Cedei's director, Andrea Fonseca, and the unit's pedagogical coordinator, Raphael Cutis, who is also a doctoral student at FE-Unicamp, to explore possibilities for extension agreements focusing on Early Childhood Education research.
Since its inception, Cedei's goal has been to serve the dependents of commercial workers, contributing to their families' quality of life and sociocultural development. For this reason, services are exclusively for the children of these professionals. The teaching hours run from 7:30 a.m. to 18:20 p.m., but if parents require extended hours, qualified professionals remain at the unit until XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.
Cedei is Sesc's first operational Early Childhood Education unit with its own space in the state of São Paulo, in addition to being the institution's first in Brazil to offer care for babies.
In total, there are 120 full-time or part-time places for children aged 4 months to 5 years. The teaching team is made up of qualified professionals who work based on a Pedagogical Political Project aligned with the principles of Caring and Educating e Learn and Play, promoting an education based on playful, affective, and collaborative practices. For every ten children, there are four responsible educators: two in the morning shift and two in the afternoon shift. "The place is very well organized, the pedagogical approach is well-founded, the staff seems very competent… I was delighted. In fact, I already presented the report of this visit in the class I taught this week," declared the teacher.
The unit has a total area of 4.744 m², spread over four floors. The architectural design was designed by architect Keila Costa, who structured the building into different volumes designed to house Cedei's programs. In addition to rooms for children and babies, the structure includes a nursery, a cafeteria with tables and chairs appropriate for children's heights, and bathrooms equipped with age-appropriate toilets and sinks.
The space also features a studio, multipurpose rooms, a vegetable garden, and an aromatic garden. All spaces were designed with ergonomics in mind to stimulate the senses, promote sensory experimentation, encourage socialization, and foster children's independence.
According to Professor Tebet, it is a space with a carefully thought-out pedagogical proposal to promote sociability, Caring and Educating, to value play and interactions as the core of the curriculum, in line with the National Curricular Guidelines for Education. “There is a very strong appreciation for children’s multiple languages, which is a hallmark of Sesc’s work,” he noted.
FE-Unicamp's participation in the inauguration of Cedei signals the Faculty's willingness to strengthen ties with institutions committed to the quality of Early Childhood Education, aiming to enrich academic training and contribute to pedagogical practice through dialogue between university and society.
