Política de transporte escolar e nucleação de escolas do campo : determinações gerais e especificidades na educação do município de Inhapi – AL (2010-2017)

Abstract

The realization of rural education as a right of rural populations is still a challenge in the reality of Brazilian education. Two occurrences affecting this educational modality have been making the guarantee of this right more complex: expansion of school transportation and nucleation of rural schools. Rural school transport (TER) it's a student right, especially residents of rural regions. Although TER is governed by legislation designed to guarantee good and equal education for all Brazilians, especially those living in rural areas, access to school for this population is still problematic state of Alagoas. This situation has been aggravated by the deepening of the process of nucleation of rural schools, causing the closure of educational establishments in several rural regions. In order for students from closed schools to continue their studies, there has been an expansion in the use of school transport, especially in municipalities where the provision of enrollment in rural schools predominates, such as Inhapi, a city located in the Alagoas backlands. Given this context, this research was guided by the following problem: to what extent does the relationship between school transport policy and school nucleation interfere with the materialization of rural education as a right for rural populations in Inhapi-AL? Thus, the general objective of the research was to analyze general and specific determinations that influence the supply of school transportation and the process of nucleation of schools and that weaken the affirmation of rural education as a right of rural populations, having as reference the education of Inhapi from 2010 to 2017. From a qualitative approach, the research used theoretical-methodological frameworks guided by a critical-reflexive perspective and conducted a literature review on school transport and school nucleation, highlighting the reality of Alagoas. The methodological procedures used were the analysis of educational policy documents related to school transportation and school nucleation, both nationally and within the reality of the state of Alagoas, and conducting semi-structured interviews with subjects involved with the research structure in Inhapi, including representatives of the Secretariat of Education and the Municipal Council for Monitoring and Social Control of the Fund for Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and Appreciation of Education Professionals (CACS FUNDEB), as well as former school managers who went through the process of nucleation in the period from 2010 to 2017. Among other things, the study revealed that the closure of rural schools leads students to attend nucleated schools in locations far from their homes, leveraging the need to use school transportation. Thus, the education offered in the municipality is increasingly distancing itself from the education of the countryside, both geographically and pedagogically, making it difficult to materialize this educational modality as a right, as formally advocated.