Educação profissional e tecnólogica: Análise do Pronatec no Câmpus de Paraíso do Tocantins IFTO

Abstract

The Vocational and Technological Education has existed implemented by the State since 1909. Created in the government of President Nilo Peçanha, it was initially offered to the underprivileged. In the first decade of this century, this modality gained visibility with the expansion of the Federal Institutes of Education, particularly with technical courses integrated into the high school, with 50% of the vacancies compulsorily reserved for graduates of Primary Education and the public of the Youth and Adult Education. However, this logic was broken with the creation of Pronatec in 2011. The Program favors a fragmented education, its courses are no longer integrated to High School and have the same nuances of the last century, that is, a dichotomized education between thinking and doing. However, this logic was broken with the creation of Pronatec in 2011. The Program favors a fragmented education with the same nuances of the last century: a dichotomized education between thinking and doing. In this context, this study aimed to analyze the Pronatec public policy in the Paraíso do Tocantins Campus (IFTO), implemented in the years 2012 and 2013. We specifically analyze the Initial and Continuing Qualification courses (FIC) with a minimum workload of 160 hours and a maximum of 200 hours, taught largely to high school students of the State Education Network of the state of Tocantins. Therefore, the research is carried out within the axes of professional, educational and social development status of program graduates, especially regarding their inclusion in the labor market, the resulting changes in these students‘ lives, and the influence of such policy on their income. The research was developed within both a quantitative and qualitative approach and used descriptive statistics and content analysis according to the Bardin (2009) methodological model. The results reveal that part of the graduates is frustrated by being unemployed and the other part because they are engaged in sectors other than that of their qualification. Those who are occupied earn up to one minimum wage and work in precarious and informal activities. Income, in turn, did not change during the course period; the graduates did not notice any improvement in that aspect. On the other hand, the influence of the Program on student life of graduates was positive, many had contact with new areas of knowledge and had access to disciplines that that led them to follow in the area or even discard them due to lack of identification. Despite this positive point, the results, in general, do not confirm an improvement in the living conditions of graduates in the guiding principles of the research, which supports all criticism built on the Pronatec policy.