O desfinanciamento da educação em tempos pandêmicos: implicações na permanência e conclusão nos cursos de graduação pelos/as estudantes assistidos/as pelo programa de assistência estudantil na Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the inflections and implications of the defunding of education, in the Student Assistance Program of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) for permanence and completion of undergraduate courses by the students assisted, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19. To achieve this, the critical dialectical method was used, which approaches reality from the perspective of historicity, understanding that reality is not neutral or static, but procedural. In order to understand reality, some categories are central to the aforementioned method and permeated the entire research, namely totality, mediation and contradiction. Understanding the methodological path, an exploratory and descriptive study was carried out, seeking to deepen knowledge of a certain reality in an attempt to overcome what is apparent. At the same time, documentary research was carried out. This research had UFRPE as its locus, more precisely the Dean of Student Management and Inclusion (PROGESTI), responsible for carrying out the planning, coordination and execution of student assistance policies at UFRPE, from the Headquarters to the Academic Units. Its development made it possible to understand how the University's Student Assistance positioned itself throughout the defined period, in facing the pandemic and in the face of the sharp cuts promoted by the far-right government. At the first moment of the pandemic, UFRPE suspended the academic calendar. In view of this, PROGESTI carried out, as a security measure, the emptying of University Residences and suspension of the operation of the University Restaurant. As a result, residents were forced to return to their homes, facing and experiencing the lack of resources necessary for the satisfactory development of academic activities. In an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of this reality, the Dean's Office created the Digital Inclusion Emergency Aid (AEID), offered for the first time, as well as joining the Connected Students Project. In addition, he continued to pay all benefits in cash. Thus, it is possible to indicate that PROGESTI made some efforts to guarantee the continuity of the students assisted. Even so, there were some disconnections from programs/aid. However, it is necessary to highlight that the inherent reasons that led to dismissal in the period defined here cannot be explained accurately, as there are no records of these motivations, requiring further studies with those terminated to understand the factors that impacted on permanence. It should also be noted that, like other Universities, UFRPE was impacted by sharp cuts in its budget. Considering the current reality, Student Assistance needed (and still needs) more resources and democratic actions to guarantee the permanence of young people in situations of poverty, as the pandemic highlighted social inequalities that were already so clearly defined.