Avaliação do impacto do transporte escolar para alunos de uma Instituição Federal de ensino

Abstract

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of free of charge, regular and permanent public school transport in the academic career of high school students from countryside regions in the Professional Scientific and Technological Federal Education Network (RFEPCT), especially students from the Nova Cruz and São Gonçalo do Amarante campuses of the Federal Institute of Education Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN). The further students are from major urban centers, the less opportunity for education they get. Thus, with the expansion program of technological education by the RFEPCT, young people from all regions of Brazilian states are given the possibility to attend a federal education institute which was before a privilege for those living in state capitals or major urban centers. The federal policy, however, does not foresee the construction of a Federal Institute in every municipality in the country, but only in strategically selected cities within 80 km radius of distance from each other in every state. In order for the public policy to achieve its goals of offering that kind of education to all Brazilian citizens, it is necessary to provide, besides the physical structure of the schools, the means for them to have access to that education, including, among others, transportation from home to school and back, as the federal constitution anticipates. Since Brazilian legislation does not ensure school transportation to students of the federal basic education system, it is up to the mayor of the municipality where the student lives to provide, or not, such service, and it might be discontinued at any time due to the lack of obligation of providing the service. Therefore, with the results of this research we intend to know how much school transportation influences the academic performance of students in these institutes, with the possibility of them not being able to complete the course, and consequently, its impacts on the public policy from the federal government. In order to accomplish that, primary and secondary data to be collected through questionnaires with students and the information system of the institute, will be used respectively to a linear regression analysis.