As repercussões do Programa Poupança Jovem nas experiências escolares de jovens egressos do ensino médio em Ribeirão das Neves

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the impact of the Poupança Jovem Program in educational trajectories of young graduates from high school in Ribeirão das Neves Minas Gerais. As part of the research we conducted a case study involving three moments of the trajectory of these young people. In the first phase we used a secondary database that was originally created in 2007. The database was created by a consulting team hired to analyze the profile of young people enrolled in the first year of secondary education in all schools of Ribeirão das Neves. This included 3,426 students who were asked to complete a questionnaire. In the second phase two schools were chosen to reapply the questionnaires for third year students. This included 120 students. In the third and final phase interviews were conducted with 12 participants. This included 8 young students, 1 adult student, 2 teachers, and 1 program manager. The researchers, in addition to applying questionnaires and conducting interviews, also analyzed documents related to the Poupança Jovem. Based on an analysis from the perspective of the sociology of youth, it was possible to observe how young people evaluate the program as a positive experience for their lives and at the same time are able to point out deficiencies and/or make suggestions that may contribute to the advancement of public policies aimed at youth. Based upon the findings in this study the researchers would like to emphasize that the Poupança Jovem resonates differently for each individual. In general these are taken as positive repercussions for students, especially in the context of sociability and financial benefit, but it has little or no reflection on their overall high school experience.