Condições de ingresso e ações para a permanência dos alunos com deficiência na UFSM

Abstract

This study aimed to know the actions carried out at the Federal University of Santa Maria for the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education. Structured from the theoretical-methodological inspiration in poststructuralist studies, the present work was based on the analysis of federal and institutional documents that regulate and present the process of inclusion of these students. According to these documents, UFSM has been developing institutional policies that allow students with disabilities access through the quota system to their undergraduate degrees since 2007. According to data from the Accessibility Center Report (2014-2018), 10 years after the implementation of the quota system, 530 students with disabilities have joined UFSM, of which 159 have dropped out and just 79 have graduated. Looking at these numbers and the appropriate actions that have been adopted by UFSM through the Accessibility Center, why are so few students graduating? Since this study did not aim to know the perceptions of students and faculty members regarding inclusion practices, the results showed possibilities of interpretation and not statements about the effects that such practices produce on subjects. Thus, it seems that technical actions and the availability of resources and professionals may not be enough to guarantee students' permanence (with learning) at UFSM. It is understandable that as inclusive practices are carried out in the spaces of basic education, it is possible that the relationships that are determinant in the learning processes are still fragile and based on representations of disability due to a disability bias. These relationships may indicate the effects of neoliberal logic on education that do not yet enable subjects with disabilities to be understood as learning subjects that can compete.