Colégio Comercial Oficial de Ituiutaba: reflexões sobre a história da educação profissional pública no pontal do Triângulo Mineiro (1965-1979)

Abstract

This work has as object of research the history of the Official Commercial College of Ituiutaba, current State School Teacher Maria de Barros, defined by year of establishment of the college, 1965, until the year of 1979 when the \"Commercial\" absorbed the students of the Spiritist Primary School of Ituiutaba and enabled the extinction of that educational establishment without detriment to the community. Parallel to the historiographic study of the Commercial College, our goal, we reflect on the origins of the history of professional education in the Pontal do Triângulo Mineiro, not before describing, in notes, the origins of professional education in Brazil and in Minas Gerais. In our research we start from the macro to the local discussing the political, economic and social scenery of the country and of the city of Ituiutaba, from the civil-military coup that ousted the country\'s president. Our intention is to contribute to research of Brazil s education history, especially vocational education and educational institutions that offer this type of education, the subject of little research in the area. For this purpose we seek in the methodological procedures bibliographical sources, documentary, and iconographic testimonies of characters of the searched school environment, which could, in the development of this work, collaborate to identify the importance of the \"Commercial\" College for the city of Ituiutaba. In the city there was not the provision of free public vocational education and let alone in higher education. The youth of urban and rural elite were sent to pursue higher education in large urban centers, while for the others, the vast majority of society, was left the local education, in private school, a reality that has changed since the mid-1950s, when were created several public schools in the city. In this scenery the Commercial College had important social role, because in had in its classes students from poor backgrounds, poor, with the hope of finding the way in technical education for the guarantee of professional achievement and social mobility, often not realized.