Política de assistência e permanência estudantil para as universidades estaduais baianas (UEBA) – Programa Mais Futuro.

Abstract

This thesis consists of investigating the process of creation and trajectory of the policy established for students in public higher education, taking as a time frame the publication of Law n.º 13.458/2015, known as the Mais Futuro Law, a normative instrument that influenced and influences the debate about affirmative actions, more specifically student assistance and retention, within the scope of Bahian state universities. Objective to understand the process of creation and trajectory of the student assistance and retention policy (Mais Futuro Program), instituted by the executive branch, for students at Bahian state universities (Ueba), from 2015, covering the contexts of influence, formulation and practice. The focus and approach of the work are qualitative in nature. Data and information from the higher education census (2022, 2023) were used, a summary of knowledge on the topic was produced, data from registrations and social questionnaires of “beneficiary” students were systematized and analyzed, and interviews with 14 participants linked to certain groups of interest were conducted. The analysis of the set of data and information had as a reference, from a theoretical epistemological perspective, a critical position on the role of the State and government in relation to the control of the student assistance and retention initiative. The management promoted by the state executive is held responsible for the practice of invisible power, evidenced through decision-making regarding policy, restricted to agents at the government level, disregarding the participation of state public universities and “beneficiary” students, therefore, harming the dialogical process between the groups involved. The positions presented by the interest groups revealed the urgent need to expand and deepen the discussions and interactions of the stake holders, recognizing the existing controversies and dispute arenas. Analyses of the policy in action in different contexts and from the perspective of interest groups demonstrate the extreme need for APE-PMF to link socioeconomically vulnerable students at universities, essential for the continuity of studies and completion of the fundamental academic process. At the same time, they show that it is not possible to state that the Mais Futuro Program ensures integral and qualified fundamental academic process, given the dissociation from other issues and problems relating to higher education in the context of state Ipes, treated as the exclusive responsibility of students or the educational institutions in which they are enrolled, exempting political management practised within the scope of the state executive power from obligations related to student assistance and retention.