A exclusão escolar no PROEJA do IFSul Rio-Grandense: as representações dos estudantes evadidos.

Abstract

This study investigates school exclusion from PROEJA (a program of professional education from the Brazilian government) taking into consideration the social representations of the students, who did not finish the course of Assembly and Maintenance of Computers from the IF-Sul (Sul-Riograndense Federal Institute), regarding their school life. First, the concept of social representation, and its importance to the scientific investigation of the social relationships and to the understanding of the relations established between individuals and society, is discussed. This is done using the classical authors of the Social Sciences and some contemporary social theories to discuss the effectiveness of the use of representations in the interpretation of the objects socially elaborated. The relation between inequality and educational level was studied having the category of social exclusion in mind, being different approaches about school failure and the relation between social class and schooling discussed. Having the policy of professional education in mind, the impact of the recent restructuration on the offer of primary education in Brazil, especially in the federal technical and professional schools, is contextualized. The principles and challenges of the PROEJA to establish itself as an option for full time primary education of youths and adults are also analyzed. Therefore, this study analyses the implementation of an education public policy in a federal institution, contrasting its objectives with the perception of the individuals that did not finish the course. Qualitative data, collected by the means of a semistructured questionnaire, was used to analyze the implementation of the course in the institution and the difficulties faced to have this kind of course accepted in the federal institutions. A questionnaire was used to collect data about the characteristics of the students of the first group of Assembly and Maintenance of Computers and to discuss how they accepted the course. Finally, the perception of the students, who did not conclude the course, about their school life, especially in PROEJA, was analyzed based on the narratives of these students obtained during a semistructured interview. The representations of the students allowed the identification of the dilemmas undergone by young and adult students during their process of education and insertion in the work market. It was also possible to identify and analyze some vital issues to the critical analysis of the public education in Brazil and the process of implementation of PROEJA. The data and the analysis of the course help in the understanding of the difficulties faced by the federal public schools in Brazil in the implementation of primary courses aimed at youths and adults. The interpretation of the representations of the students, discussed within the theoretical referential that analyzes the relations of low and middle social class students with the school and the school knowledge, reveals the difficulties experienced by these students to acquire education at secondary level within a context of social exclusion.