A influência do Programa Bolsa Família na educação especializada : olhares e vivências

Abstract

This dissertation gathers the results of a qualitative research where the objective was to investigate what were the contributions of education conditionalities present in the family allowance program, Programa Bolsa Família (PBF), through the eyes of managers, teachers and beneficiaries of the State School of Basic Education Padre Rambo, located in Fátima neighbourhood in the city of Pelotas/RS. It presents initially a conceptual approach on social policy, as a response to manifestations of the social question, followed by a presentation of PBF.Adopting the dialectical-critical methodology, it was used as procedures for data collection, initially, bibliographic and documentary research, about PBF and on pass rates and students attendance at the school we focused on.It was added to this, as the main instrument to understand the reality, semi-structured interviews with managers, school teachers and also with mothers who receive the PBF. The imposition of a counterpart in education, i.e. the differentiated school attendance, according to respondents, shows no significant beneficial contribution to the everyday school life of students, since it boils down to a normalization of the program, which does not take into consideration other issues that permeate the daily lives of beneficiary mothers, such as difficulties with transport to school, issues related to climate conditions (extreme cold), difficult access to health care in emergency room visits, and therefore, no disease confirmed through a medical certificate. Besides the fact that it does not change pass rates, or influences in the learning process of students, as it does not interfere in the concrete conditions of the learning process. Entering the program did not trigger changes in the relations between school, students and families, not contributing thus in the process of building citizenship, as preconized by the guidelines of the program. The evaluation of the program is negative in relation to its political design, for although the beneficiaries recognize the need for the benefit, they recognize also, that it is insufficient to account for all the mishaps related to the daily lives of children, and that would prefer to have its labour rights guaranteed than having to fulfill conditionalities that are displaced from their realities, for a negligible amount in relation to household expenditure.The analysis showed that the PBF, despite its germination potential for building a guarantor policy of citizenship, as a result of the transversality with other policies. It has not been effective in building a space of leading role for the beneficiaries as the majority of spaces involved in the Design – School, Basic Health Unit (Unidade Básica de Saúde - UBS) and the Reference Centres of Social Assistance (Centros de Referência de Assistência Social - CRAS) – beneficiaries are not even heard, or oriented about conditionalities, thus, hostage to the lack of information and of the individualization of misery.