School withdrawal and dropout from the stakeholders’ perspective

Abstract

This article sought to think over the concepts associated with school withdrawal and dropout expressed by public agents working with young population in a medium-size city in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. The aim was also to allow beneficiaries of school public programs to voice their thoughts in order to learn about their realities and perspectives based on their experience. Thus, 16 interviews were carried out with educators and professionals working in the public protection network as well as with two youngsters who experienced withdrawal/dropout, and the mother of one of them. The hermeneutic-dialectic approach was used as an analytical framework. Regarding the survey outcome, it was observed that this is a complex problem, with several factors involving the school, the families´ socioeconomic conditions and dimensions, and the uniqueness of the adolescent individual; these factors intertwine and make it difficult to resolve the problem, resulting in social vulnerability as a risky context for the phenomenon. There were also differences in the meanings the institutional players assign to the same categories, which can help improve the understanding of the matter; however, it also indicates the existence of different views, which turn the intersectoral practices intended to tackle the problem into a challenging proposition.

Keywords
School withdrawal ; School dropout ; Intersectorality ; Adolescence ; Public policies