Educação de jovens e adultos de uma escola de Alto Alegre do Pindaré/MA: narrativas sobre os desafios da permanência escolar

Abstract

Youth and Adult Education (EJA) plays a fundamental role in promoting social inclusion and democratizing education, offering learning opportunities to those who, for different reasons, were unable to complete Basic Education at the conventional age. This educational modality addresses the specific needs of young and adult learners, considering their life experiences and promoting meaningful and contextualized learning. Based on this premise, this study presents the following problem: How do the challenges of school retention in EJA, in a school in Alto Alegre do Pindaré/MA, express contradictions and tensions among public policies, pedagogical practices, and the life trajectories of students? From this problem, we seek to analyze the challenges related to school retention faced by EJA students in a school in Alto Alegre do Pindaré, Maranhão. To guide the research, we developed the following specific objectives: to analyze the legal, political, and historical frameworks of EJA in Brazil and in the municipality; to understand, through narratives, the factors that facilitate or hinder permanence in EJA; and to develop an educational product as an interpretative and pedagogical synthesis of the research. We adopted Oral History as the methodology and used narratives as the data collection instrument. Our interlocutors were EJA students, a teacher, a school administrator, and the president of the Municipal Education Council of Alto Alegre do Pindaré. The research indicated that EJA students face significant challenges that demand urgent attention. Among the main needs identified are the appreciation of students’ life trajectories, the adaptation of content to their sociocultural realities, specific continuing education for EJA teachers, and the creation of pedagogical practices that promote protagonist and autonomy in the learning process. Although challenges related to school retention continue to appear recurrently in EJA, it is possible to recognize significant progress in the development of this modality, both in pedagogical practices and in the formulation of public policies aimed at inclusion and valuing students. We conclude that EJA requires integrated actions that go beyond the mere provision of schooling, demanding pedagogical practices sensitive to the specificities of its learners. Recognizing the advances achieved should not overshadow the persistent challenges, especially regarding retention and the appreciation of students’ trajectories. Thus, the urgency of public policies that ensure adequate infrastructure, continuing teacher education, and retention strategies that consider the multiple daily demands of students committed to equity and inclusion is reaffirmed.