Return to school and the right to education: a study with Proeja/Ifma students

Abstract

The present article analyzes the meanings that motivate young people and adults to return their studies through the National Program for the Integration of Professional Education with Basic Education in the Youth and Adult Education Modality – Proeja. Based on the premise of the fundamental right to education as a pillar of social inclusion, the research contextualizes early school exclusion as a structural and historical problem that primarily affects the working class, leading to their social and economic marginalization. Thus, the objective is to analyze the meanings attributed to education that motivated the return to school in adulthood. The methodology adopted is qualitative, grounded in autobiographical research in education, considering its relevance in understanding the individual’s subjective experience within the school environment. Data analysis was conducted using Discourse Analysis (DA), allowing an approach to the underlying meanings of the decision to return to school. In this way, the narratives reveal that the decision to resume schooling is shaped by complex interactions between life trajectories, previous school experiences, and objective living conditions, highlighting the need for public policies that not only expand access but also ensure the effective realization of the right to education through the permanence and academic success of subjects historically excluded from the Brazilian educational system.