Os indígenas e o ensino superior na Amazônia: realidade e perspectivas da política de ação afirmativa da Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará (2010 – 2015)

Abstract

The inclusion and participation of indigenous people in higher education are part of historical claims and struggles of social movements for equal conditions in education in public policies. Due to its relevance in brazilian educational scenario, this theme was elected to study the access and permanence of the natives in Federal University of Pará Western (Ufopa). The study brings, among other approaches, the discussion about education based in concepts of decolonial perspective, critical pedagogy, interculturalism concepts, and multiculturalism; it evidences the indigenous schooling process; discusses public policies in education from a historical perspective, and conclude about the educational diversity challenges in Amazon region. The research goal is to analyze the affirmative Action Policy, access and permanence of indigenous at Ufopa considering PSE (2010 to 2015), evaluating its impact to the quality of higher education to these people. The specific objectives are: describe the indigenous profile considering PSE (2010-2015); identify actions/strategies of indigenous access by PSE in Ufopa since its implantation; map actions/strategies of affirmative action policy to guarantee the natives permanence in Federal Higher Education Institution; and, study the impact due to the presence of indigenous people in Ufopa to promote a quality higher education. It is a qualitative research, descriptive and exploratory, micro ethnographic case study type. It was adopted interviews to Indigenous Leaders (chief and Dain Coordinator) managers and professors from Ufopa; questionnaire was distributed to indigenous students that enter in university by PSE (2010-2015) and online questionnaire (Groups Forms) applied to institutes academic directors from Ufopa. The content analysis of Bardin (1997) and the triangulation technique were the data treatment. The results reveal that the Indigenous Selection Special Process is an expression of the Affirmative Action Policy guided by Ufopa allowed the access of 254 indigenous in higher education from 2010 up to 2015, with pronounced ethnic diversity (17 races) including the arapiun peoples (52), wai wai (40) and munduruku (40). Educational Sciences Institutes (ICE) (43%) and Society Sciences (ICS) (19%) concentrated many of these indigenous students. Educational Computer (Iced) and Economy Courses (ICS) have greater academic success, Language Arts/English (ICED) and Anthropology (ICS) were the courses with highest disapproval of indigenous students (SIGAA, 2015). In spite of sporadic institutional actions / strategies (CE ANAMA schoolarship and Learning Facilitation Program), in order to accompany students with higher rates of academic failure, their high percentages imply that Ufopa has not achieved satisfactory results that minimize difficulties of these indigenous people, especially in relation to the experience in the academic world. The research reveals, therefore, that Ufopa has guaranteed annually the access of the natives to the higher education through affirmative policy, however, in relation to the permanence few actions / strategies have been carried out. Considering the complexity inherent in this training process and the specificity of indigenous students, the results revealed in this study indigenous higher education, based on the principles of integral education from a humanistic perspective, capable of promoting the integral development of the individual in its physical, intellectual, cultural and symbolic, is a proposal to be reflected at Ufopa, because it has a significant contingent of indigenous peoples living in its adjacency.