THE MEANINGS OF SCHOOL DROPOUT IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The objective of this study is to expand the analyzes on professional education and school dropout in technical secondary education, present in the State, understood as a terrain of political disputes between public and market interests. It is considered that managers are key actors to the understanding of current debates on educational policy, especially professional education policy and the importance of combating school dropout in this modality, a topic lacking research. For the case analysis in Brazil between 2003 and 2016, presented here, the methodological choice was made to focus on the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education (RFEPT), due to the federal government's investments in the first two mandates of President Lula and Dilma Roussef. The research, carried out as part of a doctoral thesis, was based on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with 18 managers who formulated, coordinated and implemented these policies, linked between 2003 and 2016 to RFEPT. This article therefore presents the themes that were recurrent during the interviews, explaining the different meanings that permeate technical secondary education, when discussing school dropout at this level and modality, with managers. Beliefs, conflicts, setbacks, tendencies and limits are expressed in the different statements. The analysis presented reveals the terrain of politics, the interests of the State, the prioritizations and the disputes at stake.