With the aim of enriching academic training and promoting direct contact with the reality of government processes, five teachers and 40 students from the Public Administration course at Unicamp embarked, at the beginning of the week, on an inspiring technical visit to federal government bodies in Brasilia. The group visited several ministries and participated in conversations and lectures on various topics related to public bodies in the country's capital. This Friday, the 25th, everyone was received by the acting president, Geraldo Alckmin, at a meeting held at Palácio do Planalto, during which they talked about the government's plans for public universities and the country's scientific development.
The initiative provided participants with a unique opportunity to experience up close the functioning of the institutions responsible for public management in Brazil. During the visit, students were able to not only expand their theoretical knowledge, but also establish practical connections between the content covered in the classroom and the everyday practices that shape government policies and actions at the national level.
For Thiago Tonus, a final-year student on the course, this pedagogical experience is of great professional and personal relevance. "Being in Brasília visiting and getting to know the public sector inside is a milestone in the lives of students. For those who are at the beginning of the course, it serves as motivation to persist and not let themselves be carried away by the difficulties of graduation. For those who are at the end of the course, is an opportunity to reconsider and plan your career. Furthermore, knowing the day-to-day life of state administration allows you to have a more complete view of the positive and negative points of working in the public sector, without romanticizing your career. And finally, to students who have never been able to be in this place, is extremely important, as it reminds them that everyone can and should occupy these spaces."
Milena Serafim, course teacher and current associate director of the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) at Unicamp, recalls that the institutional visit is part of a course strategy to introduce the student to the reality and challenges of the service and public servants and motivate all.
"It is extremely valuable that the student can have this experience from an early age, in the environment in which he chose to work professionally. It was truly gratifying to see everyone's engagement and interest in each of the visits. This experience even brought a certain oxygenation to the teachers , when seeing the sparkle in the students' eyes. This approach has a pedagogical nature and allows you to learn about theory and concepts in practice, see more deeply how decision makers act, and learn more about the elements that guide the formulation and implementation of policies public, but also interpersonal and inter-ministerial challenges, among others. Even though I have lived in Brasília, I confess that I get emotional every time I enter the Palácio do Planalto and the National Congress. There we see lives being impacted in some way. Participating in this process of professional training and seeing how they begin to give even more value to the profession of public administrator and the responsibility intrinsic to this field of professional activity is what guides this visit."
