A Implementação do Programa de Combate ao Abandono Escolar (PCAE) na Rede Pública Municipal de Ensino de Umuarama/PR: 2022 – 2024

Abstract

This dissertation examines school dropout as its central research focus. According to INEP (2010), the technical definition of school dropout differs from that of school evasion: dropout occurs when a student ceases attending school in a given academic year but returns in the subsequent year. School evasion occurs when a student leaves school and does not return to the education system. The present study seeks to identify the convergences and divergences between the proposals set forth in the Guidelines Handbook of the School Dropout Prevention Program (PCAE), the mediations carried out by principals within the Municipal Education Network of Umuarama during the program’s implementation, and the results achieved in combating school dropout during the period under analysis. The research was conducted through a documentary and bibliographic study employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The documentary investigation consisted of an analysis of the Guidelines Handbook of the School Dropout Prevention Program and the collection of data on cases of school non-attendance monitored and recorded in the Educational System of the Protection Network (SERP), used by municipal schools offering Elementary Education – Early Years. The study adopted a time frame spanning from 2022 to 2024 and included the administration of questionnaires to school principals within the municipal education network. The bibliographic research provided the theoretical foundation for the analysis of the documents under examination, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the historical, economic, and social context associated with the demand arising from cases of school non attendance addressed within the education network. Thus, it was found that although the right to formal education, as well as compulsory schooling and school attendance requirements, have been expanded in constitutional texts and specific educational legislation, the lack of regular attendance in classes constitutes a denial of the right to education and may ultimately lead to school evasion. We also observed that school non-attendance, particularly among children aged six to ten years, stems from multiple factors that directly affect the daily lives of families who, in many cases, are unable to ensure access to schooling. It is also associated with other violations of rights. In this regard, the School Dropout Prevention Program (PCAE), through the involvement of services within the Child and Adolescent Protection Network, enables joint intersectoral actions that foster the return of students experiencing school non attendance. However, the study also revealed limitations in the program’s implementation. The families most affected by school dropout are those with low income, belonging to the most socially vulnerable segments of the working class. Although the program is structured around intersectoral actions, its implementation proves to be limited insofar as it does not address the structural causes that condition families to situations of vulnerability and exclusion. Thus, the PCAE is situated within the broader set of compensatory policies, primarily aimed at managing immediate effects rather than transforming the structural causes that produce school non attendance and social exclusion.