Evasão escolar no ensino médio: um estudo sobre o estado do Paraná

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze dropout rates in high school in the State of Paraná. The theoretical-epistemological background includes Pierre Bourdieu’s theory and the contributions of authors who address the right to education (Freitas, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009); education policies (Krawczyk, 2009, 2011, 2014; Silva, 2016); Youth (Sposito, 1989; Dayrell, 2007, 2016; Arroyo, 2014) and School dropout and absenteeism (Fritsch, 2015; Fritsch, Vitelli, 2017). The concepts of field, habitus and capital supported the analysis of education as a tool in the perpetuation of social inequalities in contrast to the established model of social organization (Bourdieu, 2003, 2004, 2015; Lebaron, 2017). The research question was ‘What’s the incidence of high school dropout in the State of Paraná?’ The research was developed through bibliographic documentary analysis of official documents and statistical data on school approval, failure, and dropout rates in Brazil and in the State of Paraná. The results revealed that high school absenteeism and dropout rates (Paraná) have decreased in the last few years. Between 2007 and 2024, the absenteeism rate fell from 6.8% to 1.3%, while the dropout rate showed an irregular trend, that is, it was in continuous decrease up to 2017 but increased in 2018 (12%) and 2020 (12.4%). The latter is strongly associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and the digital exclusion that affected thousands of students. The data also revealed that the first year of high school presents most of the absenteeism and dropout cases, mainly among students in the State education system and those who study in the evening. These were most influenced by factors such as the need to work, age-grade gap, students’ lack of interest due to intraschool issues (curriculum, methodology, evaluation) and difficulties adapting. Despite the overall reduction observed in the indicators, the study concluded that economic and cultural capital inequalities still determine schooling trajectories, demonstrating that the quantitative advancement seen in education has not been accompanied by a qualitative transformation of permanence and learning conditions in schools.