Assistência estudantil e serviço social: a atuação dos assistentes sociais nos campi do IFAM em Manaus

Abstract

This research is about the Student Assistance in the higher education of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Amazonas (IFAM) and focus on the role of the social worker in the creation and implementation of the social policies related to students` access, permanency and success, mainly in the management of the Student Assistance Policy (PAES). The Student Assistance aims at promoting the democratization of the students` access, permanency and success as part of the social policies deployed in education, mainly for those who are in a vulnerable economic condition, which demands a refined attention to the confrontation with the social inequality that affects school performance. We will also identify the social policies related to Student Assistance, which the Social Service employs in the campi of IFAM in Manaus. Besides that, we will study the actions and the particularities of the social worker role in Student Assistance, highlighting the advances and the limits in the students` rights insurance, and analyse the impact of Student Assistance in students` lives, considering its contribution to their academic access, permanency and success. The quantitative and qualitative approach constitutes the methodological process of this research. To achieve the goals, we performed bibliographical, documentary and field research. For the data collection, we used a form and a questionnaire with open and close questions. The former was applied to students in evasion situation, and the latter to the students aided by the Student Assistance. To the social assistants, we applied a semi-structured interview. The data used in this research was collected only with graduation students and social assistants from the campi of IFAM in Manaus, which are campus Manaus Centro, campus Manaus Zona Leste and campus Manaus Distrito Industrial. Thus, the data show that almost half (46%) of students assisted reported that their needs met by PAES / IFAM. However, we found that the sum of the students who answered did not and partially (54%) surpassed those who said that they were attended in full, which shows the dissatisfaction of the majority of the students in relation to the attendance of their student needs by PAES / IFAM. The results show how the Student Assistance has been conducted in the campi of IFAM according to the goals proposed to allow the permanency and the success of the students, and they show the Student Assistance fragilities among the innumerous social matter expressions, which enter the educational place.