Políticas de acesso e permanência do estudante da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Abstract

The policies of access to and permanence of students in the higher education in Brazil have progressed, particularly in the last few years. In the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), the search for improvement of conditions for access and permanence is being effected year after year by means of initiatives which aim at settling the students in higher studies in general, especially those coming from public schools whose deficiencies in content, self-esteem and financial resources undermine their possibilities for conclusion of courses in which they register. Aiming to analyze the processes which enable the access to and permanence of the students in UFC, this study attempts to answer the following inquiry: what initiatives are being taken by the University to warranty the access and stay of students in higher studies? Thus, this work has the general objective of evaluating the public policies that promote entry and permanence of underprivileged students educated in public secondary schools in higher education in the UFC, and to examine how the Institution adheres to the proposals of PNE (2001), among which a requirement for the a doubling of vacancies by the end of 2010 is called for. By means of study-cases based on explanatory investigation, the informations were collected from the documents and the data bank of the Institution. The data reveal that the UFC undertakes several initiatives to enable access and permanence of students in the Institution, among them: the Program of financial help to incentivize the students to participate in academic activities; the Residential Assistance Programs and University Residences for students from the rural areas and needy students from other states and the Programs of financial assistance for the training and participation of students in professional and semi-professional sports activities. In addition, the Institution provides Pedagogical and/or Psychological accompaniment when the need for professional help for betterment is recognized by the students themselves; and also ensures availability of Medical and Dental services, as well as refreshments in the University Restaurant at affordable prices for needy students. In recent years, the University has increased the student enrollment, expanded the number of courses offered, created educational campuses in the interior of the state and expanded the number of seats in the night courses, in compliance with the goals established by REUNI regarding access to University Education. This study has observed a predominance of public policies aimed at promoting permanence of students in higher education, and such a tendency is justified based on the reality that the Institutions of Higher Education in general have very limited public policies directed towards access of students to universities, considering that these institutions do not have any quality control over the basic education of the students. Regarding the access to University Education, the present transformations in political policies which enable creation of quotas, already in practice in some Federal Universities, has been considered constitutionally valid and legal in 2012. However, it has been observed that creation of quotas in UFC based on ethnic and socioeconomic status or for students from public schools, has been considered unnecessary; but the policy of quotas associated with socioeconomic profile of students originating from public schools is considered a valid criterion. This study reveals that it is still necessary to continue investigations to ascertain the reasons for the continued evasion of students, taking in to consideration the fact that all the initiatives proposed by the Institution in this respect are implemented year after year, with permanent accompaniment by the office of the Dean of Student Affairs. In spite of the policies that are in practice in UFC, the access to the students from public schools remains restricted due to their precarious conditions of preparation in the basic public education.