THE POLICY OF MONITORING GRADUATES: A NECESSARY ACTION

Abstract

Between the years 2003 and 2014, during the Partido dos Trabalhadores [Workers' Party] (PT) government, Brazilian professional education assumed a prominent position. Through the Professional Education Expansion Plan, several actions were taken to give new meaning to the Brazilian professional education proposal, a period in which the Federal Education Institutes were created, significantly expanding the offer of vacancies nationwide. Considering the investments made in the creation of these institutions, it becomes necessary that permanent evaluations of the results of these actions are conducted. Therefore, as a subsidy to the evaluation processes, Ordinance n° 646/1997 of the Ministry of Education (MEC) guided the institutions to conduct the monitoring of graduates. After that, with the publication of Law n° 10.861/2004, external evaluation was made mandatory through SINAES [National Higher Education Evaluation System], which also verifies the existence of the follow-up of graduates in the institutions. Thus, based on a literature review, this paper discusses the evolution of professional education in the Federal Network, addressing the monitoring of graduates as a necessary action for the analysis of the results of these policies. Lastly, a methodology created for the participative elaboration of an institutional policy for the monitoring of graduates is presented.