Abstract
In the last decades, Brazil has followed an increase in the debate on the relevance of family farming, mainly concerning its importance as a transformation agent of the rural and for regional development. Thus, education, understood as a transforming agent, gains a fundamental role. In this sense, this work aimed to understand the perception of family farmers in the municipality of Vitorino, Paraná, about education in rural areas and its importance as a strategic element for the maintenance of young people in the countryside. For this, interviews were conducted with twenty family farmers in the municipality. From the interviews, it was possible to understand that although most rural schools in the municipality were closed, rural children and youth have access to education, but in urban schools. However, the urban curriculum, for the most part, does not value the rural way of life, which ends up contributing to the exodus of rural youth. In this sense, it is important to create educational strategies and public policies to strengthen the succession and permanence of young people in the countryside, ensuring the social reproduction of family farming.
Keywords
rural education; family farmers; rural development; school; young