Access and permanence in higher education as a right: on the impacts of student assistance policies and affirmative actions at UFOB

The aim here is to reflect, from a human rights perspective, on the role of student assistance policies and affirmative action for the access and permanence of students from lower classes to higher education, from which they were historically excluded by policies elitization of Brazilian universities. Therefore, this article analyzes institutional documents that constitute the foundation and instrumentalization of student assistance policies and affirmative action within the scope of the Federal University of West Bahia (UFOB), located in the interior of Bahia, in the northeast of Brazil. It starts from the principle that the right to education and, in this case, to higher education, permeates several social and citizenship issues, among which the importance of student assistance policies and affirmative actions, articulated to the creation of academic environments inclusive, with autonomy, diversity, solidarity, respect and equality of learning conditions. It is concluded that the full experience of citizenship and social, economic and cultural democracy is intrinsically associated with guaranteeing the right to schools and universities, which are training places for all human rights subjects, indispensable for the promotion and effectiveness of human dignity.

Keywords:
higher education; public policies; access and permanence