Nighttime High School Education – An Educational Policy Under Threat: The Closure of Night Schools in Santa Maria de Jetibá, Espírito Santo
Name: ELVIRA SCHMIDT BULLERJAHN
Publication date: 29/06/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| EDUARDO AUGUSTO MOSCON OLIVEIRA | Presidente |
| ITAMAR MENDES DA SILVA | Examinador Externo |
| MARCELO LIMA | Examinador Interno |
Summary: This research investigates the school network reorganization process within the state public education system of Santa Maria de Jetibá, Espírito Santo, focusing on the closure of regular night high school classes between 2015 and 2017. The core problem of the investigation was to understand whether the extinction of this shift met purely demographic and administrative criteria or if it reflected a neoliberal and managerial rationality aimed at cutting public spending and aligning with market demands, driven by the High School Reform (Law No. 13,415/2017) and the expansion of full-time schools (Escola Viva Program). The general objective was to analyze the motivations, official justifications, and socio-educational impacts of closing night classes on working students, as well as to map the community resistance strategies that culminated in the partial reopening of this shift. Fundamentally grounded the critical perspective, the study adopts a qualitative approach that links the analysis of regulatory and legal documents to field research, conducted through semi-structured interviews with students, education professionals, and leaders involved in the resistance movement. The results show that the closure of classes was not a neutral act, but a political decision aligned with the marketization and precarization of public education, penalizing working-class youth and local rural Pomeranian populations. However, popular mobilization and subsequent judicialization of the conflict demonstrated the strength of democratic management, resulting in the resumption of night classes in 2018 in the municipal seat. As a practical outcome of this applied research, an Educational Product was developed, titled "Sensitization Guide and Proposals for Reopening Night High School", structured as a 30-page e-book, aiming to equip school communities and support debates and proposals regarding the preservation and democratization of the night shift.
