Política de educação profissional no Ceará: uma avaliação a partir do espaço escolar

Abstract

Public policy on Vocational Education in Brazil has consolidated itself, especially in recent decades, as a fundamental strategy for the education of young people and adults, aiming both at their entry into the world of work and at expanding educational opportunities. In this context, the adoption of standardized architectural designs for vocational schools emerges as an integral part of this policy, functioning as a tool for rationalizing resources, adapting functions, and optimizing the expansion of the technical education network. Indeed, a school environment focused on vocational education must have pedagogical spaces appropriate to the specific demands of technical training, fostering the connection between theory and practice, the development of professional skills, and preparation for the challenges of the world of work. This research aims to evaluate how the MEC Standard architectural design for vocational education schools contributes to the adequacy of teaching and the appropriation of spaces by the school community, based on the case of the Jaime Alencar de Oliveira State Vocational Education School, located in the capital of Ceará. The study adopts an evaluative approach, articulating conceptual categories from the fields of public policy and education, focusing on the legal framework of vocational education policy, with special attention to the experience in the state of Ceará. The Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) instrument was adopted as the evaluation method, which combines qualitative and quantitative procedures, enabling an analysis of the performance of the built environment, to identify potential inadequacies and gaps, in addition to capturing the demands and perceptions of the target audience. The results indicate that the MEC Standard has proven, in general terms, to be an effective initiative in the field of vocational education. This finding was obtained through field observation and corroborated by data collected through a questionnaire administered to teachers, the management team, and the technical-administrative staff. In the case studied, classrooms, the library, the cafeteria, and other common areas performed well. However, aspects requiring improvement were identified, including accessibility for people with visual and hearing impairments, the availability of adequate rest areas in the school environment, internet access and maintenance of the air conditioning units.