Cooperação educacional para o desenvolvimento : o lugar da África no Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação (PEC-G) no Brasil e na UFS

Abstract

The present research aimed to present and analyze the development of the Program of Undergraduate Exchange Students (PEC-G) in Brazil and the UFS as a program of educational cooperation focused on the Global South. Methodologically, this is a descriptive study of a quali-quantitative nature, which, starting with a focus on Africa, conceptually and historically addresses South-South cooperation (SSC) and its objectives throughout Brazil's foreign policy, provides an overview of the history and current structure of the PEC-G in Brazil and UFS, and finally presents the perspectives of its students about the Program. We conclude that the PEC-G has shown different meanings throughout the Brazilian foreign policy, becoming understood by the Brazilian official discourse as a program of South-South educational cooperation only from the 2000s, without, however, being accompanied by public policies that make it correspond to the expectations of its reconfiguration. Moreover, the contributions of the PEC-G students from UFS allow us to assess that the normative framework of the PEC-G is notably flawed, which ends up distancing the program from the official discourse employed for SSC. At UFS, the work also showed that the PEC-G stands out for the training of most young Pecgéans who attend the University, mostly men, from Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) and students in the social sciences.