A acessibilidade de uma escola ribeirinha num dado contexto da Amazônia paraense

Abstract

The article analyzes accessibility from a universal design perspective in a riverside school on the Xingu River in Altamira (PA). The research has ethnographic inspirations using data gathered field experiences between 2018 and 2019 in a riverine community. This data was recorded in a field diary and on multimedia and then analyzed using a qualitative approach. The empirical research has shown that the school architecture lacks accessibility for both permanently disabled people and those with reduced mobility, whether temporary or permanent. The facilities and their functioning are precarious in its internal and external spaces in accordance with the standards and legislation in force, for there are not: appropriate toilets; access ramps on either the school harbour or the entrance to the classroom; signs in the spaces; poor ventilation; no electricity and running water; recreational and physical activities areas; canteen, etc. Such spaces imply the precarisation of teachers’ work just as reflect in a negative way in the school children’s teaching and learning processes, as well as keeping families in the community with no access to it. We see the immediate need for the implementation of public policies of accessibility in this context as in other rural schools in the Amazon region especially on the riverside areas.