Evasão e permanência de estudantes indígenas no IFRS - Campus Sertão: os discursos que permeiam o processo

Abstract

It wasn’t until the last decade that affirmative actions have become effective in federal education institutions, among other actions, that reserve placements to the indigenous population. In this regard, Law No. 12,711, of 29 August 2012, aims to provide this group access to public education (medium / technical and higher), granting them a right to which they have historically been deprived. However, this affirmative action does not guarantee permanence in the courses attended to such public, nor the successful completion of them. This is the case, for example, of the vast majority of indigenous students who entered the IFRS - CampusSertão, scenario of this case study. Fromthe initial twenty-five freshmen indigenous students in the years 2013 to 2015, only five remained enrolled in the institution by the end of 2015. Taking into account such a scenario, this research aims to identify, through the themes that appear in the speech of the Campus’ academic community members, the factors that contribute to the evasion of newcomer Indian students. The theoretical framework of this study focuses on Bhabha’s (1998) conceptions of postcolonial relations and identities represented in the curriculum by Silva (1995; 2005). In relation toindigenous cultural identities we seek support in studies of Cenci and Marcon (1994). About the historical process of access to education in Brazil, support was focused on studies of Romanelli (2009). The corpus analysis consists of interviews with indigenous and non-indigenous students and teachers at IFRS - Campus Sertão. For the corpus analysis, we get supportin a discursive theory, semiotics square, with the theoretical basis by Greimas (1975; 2013; 2014), Barros (1997; 2012) and Fiorin (1997; 1998). Through discourse analysis it was possible to understand that the issues that manifest as indicatives of evasion of indigenous students are related tofinancial problems, poor school performance, cultural differences little debated in the academic space and fomented ethnic prejudice, mainly by conflicts over private property land and the non-representation of indigenous culture in the institution. In this context, the Indian students who manage to stay studying, many times, need to accept situations thatplace them as anti-subject, in order to complete their courses. We believe that the results of this study may contribute to the understanding of the difficulties that arise in the entry process and permanence of indigenous students and, as a result, to take measures aimed at reducing evasion not only in IFRS - Campus Sertão, but also in other educational institutions.