Hospital class and the right to education of the hospitalized child

Abstract

Children and adolescents in a condition of illness experience obstacles that interfere with their schooling, given the frequent and/or prolonged processes of treatment and hospitalization which they undergo. In this setting, hospital classes are configured as a strategy to favor the maintenance of education for this group. Thus, the article aims to reflect on the right to education of children in conditions of illness and hospitalization, taking as a scenario the reality of the educational process developed in the hospital class of a state public hospital located in the Greater Vitória Metropolitan Area, in the state do Espírito Santo, Brazil, in its correlation with the legislation that proclaims the maintenance of education for hospitalized children and adolescents. The text is the result of a qualitative case study, carried out through direct observation and interviews with professionals from the investigated hospital class. The data obtained were treated using the content analysis method. The study concludes that even though the educational practice of hospital classes is formally recognized by the legislation in the field of education, its realization goes against objective conditions of structure, resources and interconnection with schools. We could understand that even though access to education is made possible in the hospital class, the right to schooled education is not necessarily guaranteed, as the public administration itself fails to comply with its duty to make the hospital class feasible as an educational policy.