Educação de jovens e adultos + qualificação profissional: uma avaliação em profundidade da política educacional em uma escola estadual do município de Fortaleza

Abstract

The research presented aims to analyze and evaluate public educational policies directed toward youth and adult education within the context of the state of Ceará, Brazil. The universalization of education has been widely discussed, especially with regard to elementary education, whose expansion in the 1990s was considered a significant milestone and a major achievement. From this context emerged several debates focused on educational quality and the effective guarantee of access to education. However, Youth and Adult Education (EJA) still faces significant challenges due to the cultural, economic, and social difficulties experienced by students who did not complete their studies at the age expected by the educational system. To understand this context, our guiding question was: How was the public policy of EJA Secondary Education + Vocational Training implemented in practice, and how are its participants currently integrated or reintegrated into the labor market and their social environments in a participatory and civic manner? In order to answer this question, this study adopts a qualitative and evaluative approach, with the central objective of deeply evaluating the Educational Policy of EJA Secondary Education + Vocational Training. The goal is to understand the implementation process, the challenges and advances in its operation, based on the perspectives of former students of the policy. A qualitative and applied methodology was adopted, grounded in the epistemology of in-depth evaluation (Rodrigues, 2008). Data collection methods included document analysis4based on the National Education Plan (PNE), the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education (LDB), Resolution 438/2012, and the International Conferences on Adult Education-semi-structured interviews with one school administrator and three teachers working in the EJA + Vocational Training program, a focus group with former students, and field observations. Data analysis was conducted using document analysis and thematic content analysis of the interviews, following Bardin9s (2011) methodology, in addition to field notes. The analysis was structured around four axes: content, context, institutional trajectory, and temporal and territorial spectrum. The specific objectives of the research were: a. To investigate the content and the economic, social, and political context of the implementation of the EJA Secondary Education + Vocational Training policy, considering the perceptions of school administrators and former students; b. To examine the trajectory and evolution of the policy, identifying challenges and opportunities in its implementation within a public school in the state of Ceará; c. To assess the temporal and territorial spectrum to understand how the process of labor market and social integration of former students has occurred; d. To determine whether the EJA Secondary Education + Vocational Training policy includes an evaluation process within its development. The results demonstrated the potential of Youth and Adult Education (EJA) combined with Vocational Training as a tool for social and economic inclusion, while also revealing critical challenges such as school dropout, lack of support for students, and the absence of systematized data for policy monitoring.In this context, the study highlights the importance of a continuous and comprehensive evaluation process to enhance the effectiveness of EJA and to ensure the right to education and professional qualification for all young people and adults in Ceará. The research concludes that the policy has not been properly evaluated, exposing a lack of systematized data on this initiative in Ceará, which hinders the analysis of its impacts. The study underscores the need for ongoing and comprehensive evaluation involving multiple stakeholders, along with the establishment of an up-to-date information system to monitor policy implementation, areas in need of improvement, and the labor market integration of former students. Furthermore, it proposes that educational policies, beyond the curricular dimension, be integrated with broader support strategies for former students, and recommends future research to follow the trajectories and perceptions of these individuals, aiming at professional training aligned with labor market demands.