Obtaining a postgraduate higher education degree involves many more elements than enrolling in the course. Student stay conditions include several variables, including psychological, economic, sociological and institutional. Faced with a scenario in the country of falling income, high unemployment and emotional suffering during the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions face greater challenges in preventing dropouts. At Unicamp, where there was a 67% increase in demands on the Student Support Service (SAE) in 2020, a series of adjustments seek to prevent course dismissals.
Although the conditions of permanence are broad, institutional measures are fundamental. In this sense, a robust permanence policy is essential. The pandemic period, which brought the sudden migration to remote teaching, also required an adjustment of standards at Unicamp. Thus, in March 2020, new forms of assessment for subjects began to be outlined, with alternative concepts and an increase in the period for curricular completion, taking into account that inequalities have an even greater impact on remote teaching.
Second data from the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, the flexibility in relation to student dismissals was the reason why the dropout rate in 2020 was lower than in previous years. Last year it was 2,12%, while in 2019 it was 7,13%. ButIn addition to changes in academic criteria, scholarships, university restaurant services and psychological and psychiatric support were readjusted. Measures were taken to adapt the stay policy in times of increased demand.
“In times of pandemic, the differences that existed between students, due to heterogeneous study conditions, only increased. This is a big challenge, because students have very different conditions. Some don't have an environment to study, some don't have family support, some have to work because their parents lost their jobs. SAE has been working hard and has been able to meet all the demands that have arisen”, observes SAE coordinator, professor Mariana Nery. It also indicates that the agency works taking into account the range of permanence factors, as problems can be economic, mental health and/or lack of educational guidance.
Pandemic accentuates need for support
The worsening of inequalities in Brazil during the pandemic is highlighted by several recent surveys and studies. The country's Gini index, which measures income concentration, rose from 0,642 to 0,674 between 2020 and 2021, the higher it is, the greater the inequality and concentration. The country also returned to the United Nations (UN) Hunger Map, which it had left in 2013. There are 19 million Brazilians who are hungry, according to 2020 data from the Brazilian Network for Research in Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security. Study from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) also points out that, in addition to the increase in inequalities, levels of stress and sadness have also increased among Brazilians.
This entire picture, for the SAE Social Service coordinator, Cibele Papa, is the panorama in which students are inserted and which requires more attention. “It hasn’t been easy due to the situation in Brazil. We have served many students with parents who lost jobs, who contracted Covid and in some cases died. Many had never needed SAE’s social services and after the pandemic they turned to the issue of assistance and permanence, both financial and academic.” According to Cibele, there was a 67% increase in demands to the SAE in 2020, according to a survey by the agency.
The social worker also points out that, among the demands, an increase in demand for postgraduate students stands out, probably aggravated by cuts in scholarships in funding bodies, such as Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). “Many postgraduate students had their scholarships cut, were unable to get funding, and resorted to staying on,” he notes.
At CNPq, in 2021, out of a total of 3.080 thousand applications for doctoral and post-doctoral scholarships approved on merit in Brazil, only 396 (13%) received a scholarship. The agency has the smallest budget of the century this year. Capes had a budget drop from R$4,2 billion in 2019 to R$1,9 billion in 2021.
Another observation by Cibele is in relation to the difficulties faced by students who are mothers, especially solo mothers. Reconciling academic activities with care activities, in the home environment, is a challenge that became even more accentuated during social isolation.
Bags are essential
Financial support through scholarships, according to the social worker, is essential for students in socioeconomic vulnerability to maintain themselves. In many cases, it also ends up helping to pay the family's bills, such as water, energy and food. With this understanding and following the expansion of social and ethnic-racial inclusion policies at Unicamp, between 2017 and 2021, there was an increase of 30% in resources for scholarships, going from R$27,9 million to R$39,9 millions.
The scholarship that most benefits students is the Social Assistance Scholarship (BAS). Currently, 2.026 students receive the benefit, according to data from June 28. The value of the aid is R$678,81, with the student providing 10 hours of guided activities per week. Next comes the Housing Assistance Grant (BAM), which serves 1.806 students, an increase of 143 students compared to 2020. The grant has a value of R$472. For students on the Campinas campus, those who have not been covered by Student Housing, where there are approximately 900 vacancies, can receive assistance. “Today we don’t have a bottleneck of students on the waiting list for housing or housing assistance,” says Cibele.
There are also 15 other types of aid, including the Emergency Aid Grant, Research Grant and Student-Artist Grant. As a measure to adjust standards during the pandemic, all benefits linked to transportation assistance (Transportation Assistance Benefit, Mandatory Internship Transportation Assistance Grant and transportation assistance associated with other scholarships) are now called Emergency Benefit for Non-In-Person Activities (BENP ). “Social services understand that this is a value that helps with expenses”, points out the social worker.
Adaptations to university restaurants
Due to health measures to prevent the circulation of the Sars-Cov-2 virus, following the suspension of in-person activities at Unicamp, on March 13, 2020, university restaurants had to close. So that students eligible for the Food Tax Exemption Benefit (BITA) were not harmed, the University Restaurant began to provide lunch and dinner in lunch boxes, which are collected by students in the RU. Breakfast was suspended due to the fact that preparing it in lunch boxes required more time.
The meals also include employees in essential areas, outsourced companies and those participating in face-to-face rotations at the Units. According to the University Council, responsible for managing the restaurants, since the beginning of the pandemic, an average of 2.500 meals/day have been produced in the UK, between lunch and dinner. Of this total, an average of 920 students are served per day, between lunch and dinner, of which 750 are SAE scholarship holders and 170 students (undergraduate and postgraduate). The rest are distributed among HC and CAISM employees and employees from other units working in person.
The SAE social worker also highlights that the collaboration of the academic community has helped to bring meals to students who test positive for Covid. “They cannot leave the house and go to the restaurant, to maintain social isolation, so in this logistics the social service has collaborated, we have a group called SOS Covid. If the student tests positive, he sends me an email, I see if he has a colleague who can pick up the meal, and if he doesn't, I call SOS Covid. We rely heavily on collaboration from our colleagues, following all protocols. Students have also gone to great lengths to collaborate.”
Mental health support
According to a mapping carried out between 2018 and 2020, students are the segment of the academic community that has the highest levels of perception of stress and depressive symptoms. Among them, postgraduate students are even more affected. Therefore, not only financial and material support, but also mental health support is fundamental.
To support students in this area, there is the Psychological and Psychiatric Support Service (SAPPE), coordinated by psychiatrist Tania Mello. Psychological services have migrated entirely to the online format. Psychiatric care is provided remotely and exceptional cases are treated in person.
In addition to regular care, SAPPE, a body that has existed at the University since 1987, also provides Emergency Psychological Care. These are indicated for moments of great anguish, aiming to work on specific issues that are causing acute psycho-emotional imbalance. All appointments are scheduled upon request via email: sappeass@unicamp.br
The importance of permanence
According to the SAE coordinator, permanence is fundamental and Unicamp also stands out for the breadth of these policies. “Unicamp stands out for its social perspective, I don’t see any parallel in other universities. Among Brazilian universities, it stands out for its investment in student support policies”.
The professor recalls that in recent years new affirmative and social inclusion policies have been implemented, in addition to the expansion of those that already existed, bringing important diversity to the University. Therefore, the permanence policy needs to keep up with the changing profile of students. “They are tools for the student to reach the end, because our objective is to reduce dropout rates as much as possible. We know how liberating and transformative education and the opportunity to pursue a higher education course are. It is transformative not only for the student. That student who graduates transforms society. It transforms the family, the people around it and contributes a lot to society. In this sense, allowing students to enter, stay and complete courses is a mission of the university.”
To find out more about Unicamp's permanence policies and the aid request process, visit the Student Support Service page (www.sae.unicamp.br).
