Evasão na educação de jovens e adultos, sob a perspectiva do corpo docente: estudo sobre as dificuldades da permanência dos discentes no contexto da pandemia da COVID-19 (entre os anos de 2018 e 2021) na Escola Estadual Dom Pedro II, Ouro Preto - MG

The right to education in Brazil partially reflects the characteristics of society, with its challenges: poverty, inequality, discrimination, and racism, often resulting in the realization of this right at an age when citizens are already adults. Understanding that education is the key to social mobility and the guarantee of citizens' rights, this research seeks to analyze possible reasons for dropouts in Youth and Adult Education at the State School Dom Pedro II, from 2018 to 2021, in the city of Ouro Preto, MG. It also addresses, in general terms, the context experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic at this school by teachers and students. Physical and social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought changes in the educational reality, and the Youth and Adult Education audience, with its specific characteristics, is the subject affected and the focus of this study. The methodology used involved the use of questionnaires and interviews. Semi-structured questionnaires were applied to Youth and Adult Education teachers, and 4 semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals. Using these instruments, the aim was to understand which group dropped out during the years covered by the research, according to the teachers' perspective, and what the main challenges are for student retention. In this study, it was possible to verify that during the in-person period, dropout-related issues were related to various reasons, encompassing both personal and professional factors, still related to the age issue. It was also observed that during the remote learning period, in addition to the factors described as reasons for dropout in face-to-face education, there was a lack of digital literacy for educational purposes, especially among the elderly.