Avaliação dos impactos da política pública “Busca Ativa Escolar” na garantia de acesso e permanência à educação no município de Fortaleza/CE: violência urbana e evasão escolar.

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the public policy active school search and the impacts of urban violence within the school context, focusing on the role of educational public policies and the school as a space of protection and social resistance. The research stems from the author’s experience as a school principal in Fortaleza, where, in 2017, she witnessed the interruption of a child’s educational trajectory due to violence caused by criminal factions. This episode, combined with challenges such as some families’ resistance to sending their children to school, the insecurity faced during home visits, and the normalization of violence among children and youth, raised the interest in understanding how to ensure the right to education in contexts of vulnerability. The guiding question of this work is: How can active school search contribute, and what are its outcomes, in preventing the worst-case scenario of school absenteeism, which is dropout? From this problematization, the research objectives are: (1) Analyze the impacts of urban violence in Fortaleza, particularly in the Grande Mondubim neighborhood where the school under study is located, characterizing the contexts of childhood vulnerability; (2) Assess the consequences of violence and the direct effects that affect children's attendance and retention in school, as well as the intersectoral coordination provided for in the interinstitutional cooperation agreement. (3) Evaluate the Active School Search policy, with an emphasis on the challenges of the home visit stage, to guarantee the right to education by strengthening school attendance to prevent abandonment and dropout rates in a municipal school in Fortaleza., aiming to assess its effectiveness in ensuring the right to education. The evaluative approach employed in the investigation is based on the theoretical and methodological framework of In-Depth Evaluation. A qualitative, exploratory, and evaluative methodology was adopted, structured in three stages. The first consists of a literature review on urban violence, social inequality, and educational public policies. The second stage encompasses semi-structured interviews with school management staff and active school search agents working in vulnerable territories, with a temporal scope between 2021 and 2025, aiming to capture experiences and strategies to address school absenteeism. Finally, the third stage involves the analysis of collected data, articulated with theory through methodological triangulation and content analysis, complemented by direct observations and document analysis. The research, therefore, seeks to understand the limits and potentialities of active school search in fostering the school as a space of resistance and social protection in the face of urban violence.