The schooling process in the 3rd age: Challenges of a rural community in the Amazon

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

OLIVEIRA, Marcus Mustafa de ^[1]

OLIVEIRA, Marcus Mustafa de. The schooling process in the 3rd age: Challenges of a rural community in the Amazon. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year 04, Ed. 07, Vol. 05, p. 61-68. July 2019. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/education/schooling-process ‎

ABSTRACT

In the knowledge society, it is urgent to discuss ways to democratize access to studies for those who never had the opportunity, the continuity that for the most diverse reasons had to interrupt them and encourage those who find themselves accommodated to the situation of representing another number in the statistics of illiterate Brazilians, a situation experienced by many elderly people who live on the branches of the BR 174. For this reason, this research aims to bring up the problem of the Youth and Adult Education EJA[2] of students who drop out of school during the year for numerous reasons. Through bibliographic research in a community school where access is precarious in the winter season due to the non-access of school transport on the branches of

this federal highway, this research comes to address these difficulties and others, and, as a conclusion, a balance of the school performance of the years of 2016 and 2017.

Keywords: Elderly, BR 174, Branches.

1. INTRODUCTION

This research will take place at the Solange Nascimento Municipal School located on BR 174, in the EJA component, where for years the evasion of the elderly in classrooms has been noticed, seeking to understand the problem and seek with other methodologies their Permanence in the school environment.

The topic under discussion is of fundamental importance because, although the number of elderly people in Brazil is quite expressive, few views are focused on the problems that involve them directly or indirectly.

It is often said that the elderly need to exercise their citizenship, participation, but little is said about enabling them to exercise them. It’s like announcing a treasure located somewhere and forgetting or purposely not informing the clues, that is, the ways to reach or find them.

O alfabetismo tem o poder de promover o progresso social e individual; seu pressuposto é a crença de que o alfabetismo tem, necessariamente, consequências positivas, e apenas positivas: sendo o uso das habilidades e conhecimentos de leitura e escrita necessária para “funcionar” adequadamente na sociedade, participar ativamente dela e realizar-se pessoalmente, o alfabetismo torna-se responsável pelo desenvolvimento cognitivo e econômico, pela mobilidade social, pelo progresso profissional, pela promoção da cidadania. (SOARES, 2004, p. 35)

After ten years of approval of the National Policy for the Elderly, which already proposed the adaptation of curricula, methodologies and didactic material to educational programs destined to this segment, and three years of approval of the Municipal Policy for the Elderly, it is important to analyze the implementation of these policies in the educational area in the city of Manaus, in terms of its quality, effectiveness and scope for the eradication or minimization of illiteracy among the elderly in the city.

Is this happening? Is the Elderly being assisted by Rural Education? In order to answer these questions, a bibliographic research will be carried out to achieve these objectives.

2. JUSTIFICATION

The aging of the world’s population is taking place without precedent in history. Scholars from various branches of knowledge interested in the subject point in this direction. According to Berzins (2003, P.19) “it is estimated that the elderly population is 629 million people with an annual growth rate of 2%, a rate that is considerably higher in relation to the rest of the population and is three times more than there has been”. 50 years” and that the Brazilian population of elderly people already exceeds 15 million people”. The author uses the 2010 census to show that in the distribution of the elderly population by state, the states of Rio de Janeiro (10.7%) Rio Grande do Sul (10.4%) and Paraíba (10.1%) have the highest percentage of elderly and the states of Amazonas (4.8%) Roraima and Amapá (4.0%) the lowest percentage. Although the state has this benchmark, it faces the same problems as other states with a higher percentage of elderly people. Analyzing the proposed theme is of fundamental importance, for several reasons. Let’s look at some:

a) The need to provide the elderly, in the middle of the information age, with access to knowledge and education aimed at citizenship, including in the area of ​​information technology, as a way of integrating them, albeit virtually to a large part of the globe.

Berzins, (2003, P. 19) states that “despite the advance of growth in the percentage of literate elderly in the country, in 2010 they still existed. In Brazil, 5.1 million illiterate elderly people and 64.8% declared that they could read and write a simple note.” Bruno, in his article “cidadania não tem idade” points to the need to promote education for citizenship “overcoming the tendency to reduce it to the knowledge of civil and political rights and duties. The author highlights the need to politicize the issue of old age in these terms: “the conquest of a new place and meaning in society, as well as the marks of a new presence in the segment in which the elderly go through the full exercise of citizenship, exercise of the of man’s political being.

b) Need to analyze how the legislation relevant to access or continuity of studies by the elderly is being implemented in the city of Manaus. According to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics IBGE[3] (2010) the elderly population in the city of Manaus almost doubled in the period from 1970 to 2010. The rate that was 3.4% evolved to 6.04%. Preliminary information provided by the Municipal Secretary of Education SEMED[4], responsible for implementing the Municipal Policy for the Elderly in the area of ​​education, shows that in Manaus there are eight groups of elderly people in activity, with an average of 15 students attending classes regularly and eight groups deactivated. Are these groups effectively contributing to the student’s motivation to continue their studies and consequently contribute to the eradication or reduction of illiteracy among the elderly?

c) Need to reflect on the factors that contribute against or favorably to this access or continuity of studies. The identification of factors can support the bodies and institutions that manage the educational policy for the elderly to seek alternatives to overcome them. In one aspect, scholars of aging and professionals involved in the care of the elderly have converging thoughts: that elderly people who are active in family and social life, are involved in physical and occupational activities and are encouraged to find alternatives to their own difficulties, are less likely to develop early diseases that they affect this age group more frequently and segregate participation and social life. Identifying and suggesting ways of coping with the impeding factors to the participation of the target audience of this research is a matter of vital importance.

3. OBJECTIVES

• General

Show through research, the Education of the Elderly in the Rural Area on BR 174 in the city of Manaus: its achievements and difficulties.

• Specific

I. Analyze literacy programs for seniors;

II. Develop educational programs and in particular use the media in order to inform the population about the aging process;

III. Provide adjustments in curricula, methodologies and other teaching materials to educational programs aimed at the elderly.

4. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES

For the execution of this research, a documentary bibliographic survey will be carried out, a survey of primary sources with direct and participant observation at the school to achieve the objectives, open interviews with pre-prepared questionnaires, a survey with SEMED of how the issue of education of the elderly in the communities is being treated rural areas specifically on BR 174 and finally the School Income of students in the years 2016 and 2017.

5. DEVELOPMENT

This research should show how is the quality of education for the Elderly in the Rural Zone of Manaus, on BR 174. It will not address the capacity of the educator, nor the pedagogy adopted by the researched School, among others.

6. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

This research will be guided by two analytical categories, namely: continuing learning and education for citizenship.

It is essential that society begins to seek to confront its prejudices towards the elderly and to find alternatives so that this segment is an active and constitutive part of this reality: that it has the opportunity to explore its learning potential and that this new education is revised opportunities to exercise their citizenship.

The emphasis on knowledge construction reflects on the learning environment and its components.

According to Valente (2000) the proposal of an education differentiated from traditional education is characterized by expository classes that emphasize the act of teaching how to put or place a sign or deposit information, retain, arrest.

We must create learning environments with activities, objects and pedagogical support materials impregnated with certain concepts or strategies in ways that learners, interacting with the objects developing the activities, can build knowledge related to these concepts and strategies. (VALENTE, 2001)

Establish the development of a social learning process in the construction of new forms of relationship, contributing to the formation and constitution as active social subjects. (BRUNO, 2003)

According to the aforementioned author, it is essential to reflect with the elderly about contemporaneity, leading them to perceive them as subjects of the present time, with possibilities and perspectives for the future. It awakens him to the need to build a life project that gives it meaning… education for citizenship should encourage individuals to reconcile their collective projects, in the construction of the meaning of something greater.

This is to contribute to the formation and constitution of citizens as active social subjects as protagonists who seek to build their own history and who have in the other social being a companion in struggles and not someone who expropriates them of their autonomy and ability to make choices.

7. SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

8. SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OF THE 4TH PHASE (6th AND 7th YEAR)

Source: Sigeam.

8.1 SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OF THE 5TH PHASE (8th AND 9th YEAR)

Source: Sigeam.

8.2 SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OF THE 4TH PHASE (6th AND 7th YEAR)

Source: Sigeam.

8.3 SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OF THE 5TH PHASE (8th AND 9th YEAR)

Source: Sigeam.

9. CONCLUSION

Analyzing this research that deals with the education of the Elderly in the EJA, it is noted that students, because they are older and have other tasks, give up their dreams that they have been chasing for years. They give up because there is no pedagogical proposal that would favor them in their goals. They give up because they live in branches that are difficult to access. They give up their only hope which is Education for a better future. A future that does not yet belong to them, and they are all Brazilians and should be prioritized by their choice. About 30% to 60% do not complete the 5th phase, which will give the right to enter the last stage of Basic Education in Brazil, High School.

10. REFERENCES

BERZINS, Marília Viana Anselmo da Silva. Envelhecimento populacional: uma conquista para ser celebrada. In: Revista Serviço Social & Sociedade, Ano XXIV Especial 2003, Ed: Cortez, p 19-34.

BRUNO, Marta Regina Pastor. Cidadania não tem idade. In. Revista Serviço Social & Sociedade. Ano XXIV Especial 2003, Ed: Cortez, p 74-83.

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística- IBGE- Censo Demográfico 2010.

SOARES, Magda. Alfabetização e Letramento: 2 ed. São Paulo: Contexto 2004.

VALENTE, José Armando. Aprendizagem continuada ao longo da vida – o exemplo da terceira idade. In: LONGEVIDADE: um novo desafio para a educação. Vitória Kachar (organizadora). 2001, Ed: Cortez, p 27-44.

APPENDIX – FOOTNOTE

2. Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA).

3. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).

4. Secretaria Municipal de Educação (SEMED).

^[1] Master’s Student in Educational Sciences, Saint Alcuin (2016- ), Specialization in School Administration, Ucam (2006) Pedagogical Complementation in History, Fest (2005), Bachelor of Theology, Fatebov (2003).

Sent: May, 2019.

Approved: July, 2019.