Programa institucional de monitoria indígena (PIMI): experiências, desafios e aprendizagens no Câmpus de Tocantinópolis-TO da UFT

Abstract

This study is among those that problematize contexts, the experiences and contradictions of affirmative policies in higher education aimed at indigenous students. In this direction, we seek to understand how it develops and what are the contradictions of the Institutional Program for Indigenous Monitoring (PIMI) of the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), from the experiences of the indigenous students themselves at the Tocantinópolis Campus. Therefore, it was necessary to characterize the process of creation and work at PIMI for the inclusion of indigenous students in teaching, research and extension activities, and to evaluate the experiences, the challenges and learning in that program. As a theoretical contribution, we spoke with Bergamaschi, Doebber and Brito (2018), Cohn and Dal’bó (2016), Paladino (2012), among others, about indigenous students at Brazilian universities; and with Milhomem (2017), Pereira and Raquel (2018), Sousa e Da Silva (2018), and others, on the challenges for indigenous students to remain in higher education and PIMI at UFT. It is a Case Study, whose

approach is qualitative, who used document analysis as data collection instruments, semi- structured interview and questionnaires applied to the subjects. The data show that access, entry

and stay at the university is still a challenge to be overcome by indigenous students, which is related, among others, to the lack of instruction regarding bureaucratic procedures and difficulties with the Portuguese language. The experiences of these students point to perspectives of adjustments and realignment of PIMI, so that the continuity of this program is guaranteed, given their contribution and importance in the context.