O programa nacional de assistência estudantil (PNAES): um estudo de caso da Universidade Federal Fluminense

Abstract

The present study seeks to understand how the student assistance policies are being developed at Fluminense Federal University (UFF) in order to guarantee fair opportunity conditions for the students to complete their studies. In order to achieve that purpose, the socioeconomic profile of the students who make use of the student assistance programs wasanalyzed and the aspects related to coverage and granting of benefits were verified. The theoretical framework considers aspects related to the implementation process of the public education policies, based on the perspectiveof the “sociology of public action”, in particular on the work of Pierre Lascoumes and Patrick Le Gales (2014). Also, two different fairness criteria, used in the formulation of the education policies, are presented and discussed, which are: the opportunity model and the position model, as well as issues related to inequalities in access to education,consideringas main contribution the studies of Francois Dubet (2012,2015).Based on both theoretical perspectives, this study analyzes the recent path of expansion of the public policies in higher education during the governments of FHC (1995-1998), Lula da Silva (2003-2006/2007-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), highlighting their similarities and differences, as well as the main programs implemented by these governments, with emphasis on the case of the National Program of Student Assistance (Programa Nacional de Assistencia Estudantil – PNAES).The study shows that Lula and Dilma’s governments adopted policies focused on the democratization of higher education, which contributes to the expansion of the access of the less favorable levels of society to this type of education, with an expressive increase of students who are black, brown, female, who come from the public education system and/or with a per capita income up to one and a half minimum wages.It is precisely those groups that need more student assistance at UFF, which reinforces the importance of this policy. It is also noticed that the students who make use of the student assistance policy are concentrated in the less prestigious majors financially, which evidences the existence of a horizontal stratification in higher education. The results about the effectiveness of the student assistance policy at UFF show a gap in coverage, which expresses an increasing inequality betweenthe students in need and the benefits offered, a situation that can cause an enhancement in the educational inequalities, as well as an increase in the dropout rate by these students.