Busca ativa escolar: uma política de enfrentamento ao abandono escolar na rede municipal de São Leopoldo/RS no contexto pandêmico da Covid-19

Abstract

This work is the result of an academic research with the purpose of obtaining the title of Master in Education from the Postgraduate Program in Education at Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). The theme of the investigation was a public policy that tackles school dropout in primary education in a municipal education system. The object of study was the Busca Ativa Escolar project, implemented in the municipality of São Leopoldo (Rio Grande do Sul) during the Covid-19 pandemic. The methodology consisted of exploratory research with a qualitative approach, using the case study as a method. For data collection, educational indicators from the census, documentary research and database from the SMED (the Municipal Secretary of Education) Active Search nucleus were used. The data were analyzed using document analysis (Cellard, 2008) and content analysis (Bardin, 2006). The theoretical foundation covered the concepts of Public Policies, Busca Ativa and Dropout and School Evasion. The analysis of educational indicators showed that despite there being a significant decrease in failure rates and age/year distortion in the last ten years, the school dropout rate showed less evident changes, indicating greater stability, caused by the intrinsic complexity of the various factors that are associated with the phenomenon of school evasion. Through data collection in the Busca Ativa database, information was obtained from student referral spreadsheets sent to the SMED Busca Ativa nucleus and interviews carried out with management teams from 2020 to 2022, in which the main reasons for dropping out were identified: lack of access to technology, frequent changes of residence, health issues and the need to work to support the family, revealing educational exclusion as a consequence of social vulnerability. When comparing rates at municipal, state and national levels, it was clear that there was a need to expand the capacity of municipal school institutions to deal mainly with challenges related to factors external to the school. It was evident that the main role played by Busca Ativa was as a mediator between families, and between internal and external sectors of the Department of Education, highlighting the need for other integrated intersectional policies. In this sense, one of the greatest effects of the Busca Ativa policy was to boost the articulation between policies, culminating in the implementation of the Paulo Freire Municipal Education Center (CEMEI), which occurred during the course of this research. Based on internal normative documents, decrees and laws guiding educational policies, six policies were identified that are linked to Busca Ativa when dealing with school evasion: the Mais Educa São Leo program, Acelera, Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations, Conviver, the Support Center to Research and Inclusion Process (NAPPI) and the City Sustainability Program (PESC).