School dropout rates in elementary school among children living in rural settlements in the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 25/01599-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Vitor Machado
• Grantee: Laura Losi Àlvares
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This scientific initiation research aims to analyze the causes of low enrollment rates in elementary schools located in rural areas, attended by children residing in agrarian reform settlements in the countryside of the State of São Paulo. Several studies and research efforts indicate that rural schools have faced numerous challenges, ranging from inadequate infrastructure and a lack of specialized teacher training to the difficulties faced by school administrators in properly complying with the laws regulating Rural Education in Brazil. Furthermore, studies show that there has been a considerable decline in recent years in the number of enrollments in elementary schools located in rural areas. To achieve the proposed objective, a documentary research will be conducted based on data released by the School Census over the past two years to assess the current enrollment scenario in rural schools. Additionally, field research administrators and teachers from the early and final years of elementary education in both rural and urban schools attended by children from settlements, as well as with the parents of these children. The interviews will be analyzed using the framework of historical-dialectical materialism, following the discourse analysis method proposed by Viana (2015).