Introduction

The beginning of the 21st century is marked by several social, political, economic and global transformations. Among them are the changes in the educational system, related to the accelerated development of communication and information technologies, which impose a number of new and constant challenges to be faced by contemporary society.

Adaptations and new regulations were necessary so that Higher Education Institutions (IES) could keep up with this evolution and continue to be responsible for the production, preservation and dissemination of cultural, scientific and technological knowledge, making this knowledge accessible to everyone.

In order for the IES to be prepared, and to prepare students more and more to face this competitive world, which in addition to content knowledge, is necessary to prepare them to be an outstanding professional, with talent in their actions. This student/graduate will have to know how to deal with the most different problems in real life, professional and social situations, building a fairer and more egalitarian society.

By Article 207 of the Federal Constitution of 1988, “Universities enjoy didactic-scientific, administrative and financial and patrimonial management autonomy, and will obey the principle of inseparability between teaching, research and extension”. Given this device, University Extension is understood as an educational, cultural and scientific process that articulates teaching and research in an inseparable way. In times of change in the educational system, extension plays a key role in the context of universities and the outside community.

Given this reality and thinking that "education is a right for all" (CF / 1988) and university is the place we seek to conquer our dreams, as professionals, contributing to overcoming social inequalities, search is hereby text, present/describe some of the contributions related to extension practices developed in the context of the Pro-Rectory of Extension, Culture and Community Affairs of the State University of Tocantins (Proex/Unitins), from January 2019 to March 2020, whose objective it is to reflect and make these practices transparent.

It is noteworthy that these actions were developed in times of changes in the educational system, showing their contributions and benefits for the education of students and overcoming social inequalities in contemporary times.

The motivations that led us to choose this study are linked to the work that is now being developed by the authors at Proex/Unitins, and also because research in this area is necessary, as it contributes to indicating answers to overcome inequalities social.

For the reasons stated, we used the existing legislation and guidelines and National Extension Policy, and the Unitins Extension Policy, and contributions of authors who address this issue. For the development, we opted for the descriptive study method, with a qualitative approach. The technique used to achieve the results was the analysis of the projects and analysis of the final reports of the projects already carried out on the various Unitins campuses.

To carry out this research, it was necessary to structure this article in two sections: in the first, an approach to University Extension in Brazil, and in the second, a description of some of the extension practices/actions developed in the context of Proex/Unitins is presented, from January 2019 to March 2020, highlighting the contributions and benefits for the education of the student and overcoming social inequalities in contemporary times.

Normative and Conceptual Trajectory of University Extension in Brazil

In order to understand the normative trajectory, we present a brief retrospective (cutout) regarding the Legal and Conceptual Framework of University Extension in Brazil, from 1987, starting from the first meeting of Extension Deans of Brazilian Public Universities (Forproex), held in Brasília, on November 4th and 5th, 1987. This meeting represented a great advance for the Extension which, in addition to providing several reflections on the institutionalization and financing of university extension, it defined the new concept of extension that came to be in force as follows:

The university extension is the educational, cultural and scientific process that articulates teaching and research in an inseparable way and enables the transforming relationship between University and Society.

Extension is a two-way street, with guaranteed traffic for the academic community, which will find, in society, the opportunity to develop the praxis of academic knowledge. Upon returning to the University, professors and students will bring an apprenticeship that, submitted to theoretical reflection, will be added to that knowledge. This flow, which establishes the exchange of systematized, academic and popular knowledge, will have as consequences the production of knowledge resulting from the confrontation with the Brazilian and regional reality, the democratization of academic knowledge and the effective participation of the community in the activities of the University. (FORPROEX, 1987, p. 11).

It is during the Forproex⁴ meetings that the needs for expansion of programs for the development of financing policies, for the improvement of policies and instruments for fostering and supporting University Extension are verified, as it is understood that these are inseparable and are a form of integration extension within the scope of public IES’. Forproex is an alternative for strengthening Brazilian Public Universities to overcome social inequalities.

In 1988, the Federal Constitution makes clear in Article 207 that “Universities enjoy didactic-scientific, administrative and financial and patrimonial management autonomy, and will obey the principle of inseparability between teaching, research and extension”. Art. 213. [...] paragraph 2 says "The university research and extension activities may receive financial support of the Government", reaffirming the concept of Extension defined in the first Forproex 1987, since besides constitutionalizing , attributes to it the inseparable character of Teaching and Research, giving Extension the possibility of receiving financial support from the Public Power.

Then, the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education⁵ (LDB-Law No. 9,394/1996), of December 20, 1996, opens paths for the IES to fulfill its social role, providing Extension with the opportunity to create, establish plans , scientific research programs and projects, artistic production and outreach activities. The law shows that university research and extension activities may receive financial support from the Government, including through scholarships.

With the LDB (Law No. 9,394/1996), the University Extension assumes theoretical and practical responsibility in the organization of its actions, as the purpose is the dissemination of knowledge, the academic and professional training of the student and the reduction of social inequalities both locally , such as regional and/or national.

Then, the National Education Plan (PNE, 2001-2010) approved by Law No. 10.172, of January 9, 2001, considered the first plan instituted by law, and elaborated for the construction of policies and programs with the aim to improve education (BRASIL, 2014), determined Goal 23, which calls for the implementation of the University Extension Development Program in all Federal Institutions of Higher Education in the 2001-2004 period and ensures that at least 10% of the total of credits required for graduation in higher education in the country should be reserved for the performance of students in extension actions.

In 2012, the National University Extension Policy (FORPROEX, 2012, p. 28) established that:

University Extension under the constitutional principle of the inseparability of teaching, research and extension, is an interdisciplinary, educational, cultural, scientific and political process that promotes the transforming interaction between the University and other sectors of society.

In this sense, the University Extension aims to transform both the university and the different sectors of society in which it has the opportunity to interact.

According to ^{Nogueira (2000}), the formulation and implementation of University Extension actions should follow the guidelines adopted by the National Extension Policy, agreed upon in the Forum of Extension Deans of Public Institutions of Higher Education in Brazil (FORPROEX, 2012). Among the guidelines to be followed were defined: Dialogical Interaction; Interdisciplinarity and Interprofessionality; Teaching-Research-Extension inseparability; Impact on Student Education; and Impact and Social Transformation.

The National Extension Policy (2012) also advocates the participation of students in Extension actions, and these actions must be supported by initiatives that enable curriculum flexibility and the payment of credits obtained in University Extension actions. (FORPROEX, 2012, p. 19). To Boaventura de Sousa ^{Santos (2004}, p. 53),

[…] the extension area will have a very special meaning in the near future. The moment when global capitalism intends to functionalize the University and, in fact, transform it into a vast extension agency at its service, the University reform must give a new centrality to extension activities (with implications for the curriculum and careers of the teachers) and to conceive them in an alternative way to global capitalism, giving Universities an active participation in the construction of social cohesion, in the deepening of democracy, in the fight against social exclusion and environmental degradation, in the defense of cultural diversity.

It is the extension that reaches the meaning of the university in its entirety, as it manages to articulate university activities as a whole and build social cohesion.

In the National Education Plan (PNE, 2014-2024), approved by Law No. 13,005, of June 25, 2014, a reduced number of goals was established, however, it determined some urgent goals and strategies such as Goal 12 (increase the gross enrollment rate in higher education) and Strategy 12.7 (which ensures at least ten percent of the total curricular credits required for graduation in university extension programs and projects, directing its action, primarily, to areas of great social relevance).

In the National Education Plan (PNE - 2014 to 2024) some innovations were presented for the educational reality of Brazilian universities, leaving the challenge for IHE to review their extensionist and curricular concepts and practices.

Despite the numerous Higher Education Policies linked to University Extension, it was only in 2018 that this Policy was actually regulated by RESOLUTION No. 7, of December 18, 2018. This Resolution establishes the Guidelines for Extension in Brazilian Higher Education and regulates the provided for in Target 12.7 of Law No. 13.005/2014, which approves the National Education Plan - PNE 2014-2024 and other measures.

Higher Education Policies linked to Extension had a significant advance, and this Resolution is characterized as a regulatory framework for Extension, as in addition to instituting the Guidelines for Extension in Brazilian Higher Education, it reinforces the social commitment of Higher Education Institutions.

The next step in this text is to understand the Extension Policy of the State University of Tocantins (Unitins), since this article deals with extension practices in times of educational changes at Proex/Unitins.

Extension Policy of the State University of Tocantins (Unitins)

The Unitins Extension Policy is guided by the principle that knowledge is an inseparable social and collective process of teaching, research and extension, aimed at providing the contributions knowledge society designed to overcome obstacles to its development, getting equally the contributions of their experiences and experiences. (UNIVERSITY EXTENSION POLICY, 2017, p.6 and PDI 2018-2022, p.42)

Regarding the Extension Policy, it is important to highlight that the State University of Tocantins (Unitins) fulfills its social role as an Institution of Higher Education through the implementation of extension practices/actions that seek to meet the demands of social inequalities existing in the external community. For this, in addition to following the National Policies and Guidelines, it follows its own regulations:

RESOLUTION/CONSEPE/N. 005/2017 - This Resolution approves the Unitins Extension Policy and approves the NORMATIVE INSTRUCTION/CONSEPE/N. 001/2017 which provides for the operational procedures for the institutionalization of extension actions in Unitins, characterizing extension as an interdisciplinary, educational, cultural, social, scientific and political process represented by a set of actions aimed at articulating teaching and research inseparably, enabling the transforming relationship between the University and other sectors of society. It is worth noting that these guidelines are linked to the Institutional Development Plan (PDI, 2018-2022, p.43) of Unitins.

By regulation, extension activities must comprise at least 10% (ten percent) of the total workload of undergraduate courses in university extension programs and projects, as determined by strategy 12.7 of the National Education Plan (PNE 2014- 2024) and Resolution No. 7, of December 18, 2018.

According to the PDI (2018-2022, p 44), the University Extension is essential for professional training, because, in its dynamic space of learning, it allows for interdisciplinarity, interprofessionality, dialogicity and enables a transforming relationship between the University and the society.

It is important to highlight that, in relation to the processing of proposals, registration and approval of extension actions; these must be presented by professors or administrative technicians of superior level, involving students and the external community, following the regulations.

In addition, Unitins' extension actions must observe the institutional principles of university extension and promote local and/or regional development, and extension project proposals must obligatorily follow the Single Extension Proposal Form - FUPE.

According to this Normative Instruction Article 47, the financing of Unitins' extension actions will be ensured through its own resources, originating from Unitins' programs and/or consigned to the State Treasury, and the Dean of Extension, Culture and Community Affairs is responsible for opening of notice for selection of extension actions that require financial resources from Unitins.

This Normative Instruction also determines that the extension actions will be institutionally evaluated through criteria and analysis of the results, in compliance with the guidelines of the National Evaluation of University Extension.

In this same direction, and in compliance with the recommendations of the National Education Plans, and RESOLUTION No. 7, of December 18, 2018, published in the DOU, on December 18, 2018, Unitins approved NORMATIVE INSTRUCTION/UNITINS/N. 005/2019/GABREITOR, of December 10, 2019, published in the Official Gazette of Tocantins, on December 13, 2019. This Normative Instruction regulates the extension actions as a mandatory curricular component in the pedagogical projects of the undergraduate courses of the State University of Tocantins, as recommended by the legislation.

In general, it is clear that the National Education Plan (PNE) is a document that supports institutional documents such as PPI, PDI, Regiments, Regulations, Ordinances, associated with the guidelines and specific legislation of the courses.

In this sense, Unitins seeks to systematize its guidelines and develop its extension actions in accordance with: the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (1988, Art.207) and the National University Extension Policy (FORPROEX /2012), with the Plan National Education Program (Law No. 13.0052014 - Target 12; Strategy 12.7), with RESOLUTION/CONSEPE/N. 005/2017 and NORMATIVE INSTRUCTION/ CONSEPE/N. 001/2017, and with its statute.

In this section, we present a brief overview of the legal milestones in the trajectory of University Extension in Brazil, from 1987 onwards, significant and indispensable milestones for Higher Education Institutions to fulfill their social role through the implementation of extension practices/actions that come to meet the possible demands of existing social inequalities.

Extensionist Practices in the Proex/Unitins Context: January 2019 to March 2020

Considering that "education is everyone's right" (CF/1988) and that the university is the place capable of transforming dreams into reality, as well as contributing to the overcoming of social contexts of inequalities and exclusion, this moment of work is intended to the presentations of some of the extension actions developed within the scope of the Pro-Rectory of Extension, Culture and Community Affairs of the State University of Tocantins (Proex/Unitins), during the period comprising the months of January 2019 and March 2020.

Contributions in Times of Change in the Educational System

In this context, it appears that in times of changes in the educational system, the University Extension plays a key role in the academic and community outside the university, because it allows socialization and democratization of knowledge acquired and promotes activities for the benefit of segments more vulnerable.

Through programs, projects, courses, and extension events, the institution reaches the community to benefit it in some way, offering the student the possibility of putting into practice the knowledge learned during graduation and, consequently, gaining experience in the career chosen, while providing a service to society.

Thus, based on student education, dissemination of knowledge and social contribution, relevant extension actions were developed within the scope of the Dean of Extension, Culture and Community Affairs of Unitins. Below, information on some of the extension projects carried out during the period from January 2019 to March 2020 is punctuated:

The extension project “Promoting health and social well-being through healthy eating”, carried out at the Home for the Elderly Tia Angelina, in the municipality of Porto Nacional - TO, is an action of social relevance, as its implementation provided benefits for the health of elderly people, such as quality of life and well-being, by having the opportunity to eat fresh and healthy vegetables daily.

Among the beneficiaries are: 41 (forty-one) people from the “Lar de Idosos Tia Angelina”, being 20 (twenty) elderly and 21 (twenty-one) servants who live in the Home, in addition to project members (students, teachers and Proex technicians), totaling approximately 50 (fifty) people.

For the coordinator Delfino (2020), “students of the Agronomic Engineering course at Unitins - Campus Palmas, who are part of the project, had the opportunity to understand the importance of quality food and to develop, in an interdisciplinary way, content from the different areas of knowledge of the course". The teacher also highlights that this action promoted changes in attitude and perception of responsibility in participating students.

Extension actions such as this strengthen social integration, links between the academic community, students and the elderly, providing significant changes in their lives, rescuing citizenship, improving the quality of life, raising self-esteem, enabling joy and satisfaction.

The project "Looking for Conservation of Turtles in Tocantins" is an initiative of great social and environmental value, because in addition to awareness regarding the preservation of the environment collaborates with the repopulation of native species that are threatened with extinction. For coordinator Alessandra dos Santos Czapski (2020), the project “contributes significantly to the education of students, as it provides, with practice, a new vision of environmental education and the importance of preserving turtles. In addition to interacting with the environment in a playful way, the student has the opportunity to seek, deepen, share and produce scientific knowledge”.

The extension action has so far benefited more than 100 (one hundred) students from public schools in Caseara-TO, through environmental education activities. The project's target audience is also the riverside population, residents of settlements and the local population.

The Cinema-School/Cinema-Science action provided an experience of transformation, in the sense of improving the school environment in relation to society, “promoting equality and integration with society, in order to reduce discrimination, violence, intolerance and prejudice”, as highlighted by Professor Leila Amaral (2019), one of those responsible for the action.

The film “Stars beyond time” raises debates about the insertion of women in research, gender and ethnic-racial prejudices and the partnership of the Cinema-School and Cinema-Science projects, according to its coordinators at the time, sought to address science as a fundamental human right and how human rights, throughout the history of scientific thought, have been violated in several episodes.

Professor Lilian Lima (2020), Extension Project coordinator, points out that the achievement of "All About Them" encouraged the breaking of the silence of this problem that affects so many women, not only in the Bico do Papagaio region, but throughout the territory national and global.

Through the project, awareness-raising actions were developed on the importance of identifying and combating violence against women within schools, in public spaces, in their own homes and other places where it can be observed.

Lima (2020) highlights that the teenagers/students, direct beneficiaries of the project, became allies and replicators of knowledge, understanding that socio-cultural change, although slow, happens when more people are reached and engage in the face problems naturalized in society.

According to Coordinator Janayna Viana and student Gonçalves (2020, p. 5), the Extension Project “Caring for the Caregiver” awakened a different perspective on the importance of working on worker's health in the external community, through the university extension.

It must be noted that the information obtained from the project will also serve as a basis for reports and scientific papers. Therefore, the action of health education, in addition to providing reflections and the aforementioned benefits, has resulted in data that can contribute to improving the quality of life of employees of the Municipal Nursery “Permina Ferreira de Almeida”, as well as to the lives of students and teachers participating in this project.

Among the beneficiaries are: 31 (thirty-one) employees of the Daycare and more members of the project, making a total of 34 (thirty-four) people benefited in this action.

As explained in the report by coordinator Irineu Valoais and student Santos (2020, p. 4), the project “Citizen Score 10”, in addition to contributing to the professional training of students in Law and Accounting Sciences - Campus Augustinópolis, benefits students and teachers from elementary schools in the municipalities of the Bico do Papagaio Region (Rural and Urban Areas).

So far, this project has had the participation of students from the Literature course -Araguatins Campus, who were selected to collaborate in the steps of making a manual book and promoting it. During the months of August, September and October of 2019, six meetings were held with members of Quilombo Ilha de São Vicente and, at the same time, semi-directive interviews, listening and recording of stories were carried out during these visits, as reported by the coordinator of the project, teacher Luama Socio (2019).

For the coordinator (2019, p. 2), from a literary point of view, this step was important because it added to the publication the directly oral modality of the activity of "telling stories", as well as preserving the visual and gestural record of the people themselves tellers of these stories.

Finally, as foreseen in the project and evidenced in its partial report, the work team, with the collaboration of the students, made about 100 (one hundred) copies of a handmade book, containing excerpts from the stories that make up the site.

The books were distributed among the quilombolas themselves without access to the internet as a way to get in touch with the results of the work.

According to a report presented by the coordinator Zilmária Santos and student Nascimento (2020), the Project "Academic League of Human Rights: dissemination of knowledge about Human Rights" developed, in 2019, lectures on "What is human right?" and conversation round about human rights violations and new digital technologies, addressing the origin, scope, definition, characteristics and so-called generations of human rights, in addition to the forms of internationalization and internalization of these rights internally, the global and regional systems of protection .

In 2020, a conversation circle was held with the theme “What is being a woman?” with discussions based on the violation of women's rights and 01 (one) open class with the theme “Violation of Human Rights and new digital technologies”. Teachers, Unitins and high school students in public schools in the municipality and region of Southeast Tocantinense benefited from the actions.

Regarding the extension practice “Tell me more: literary literacy practices in elementary school”, the coordinator Elem Gomes and student Azevedo (2020, p. 16) present in a report in which the results achieved with the project, despite being simple, characterized as a harbinger of change in relation to the absence of the reading habit. With practice, it was observed that there is a lack of access by students to literary books and that, in most cases, there is also a lack of books in the schools themselves.

The report shows that adequate literary literacy has an indispensable role in the training of students/readers, precisely because it offers a methodological strategy in directing and strengthening the teaching of literature, enabling the approximation between literature and readers and expanding the possibilities of interpretation of the narrated world and the lived world.

Conclusion

In light of the above, we believe that this retrospective presented some of the extension actions developed in the context of Proex/Unitins, from January 2019 to March 2020, revealing the benefits for the professional and personal training of those involved, and the contributions of extension to overcome social inequalities in times of educational change.

Thus, it is evident that the Dean of Extension, Culture and Community Affairs of the State University of Tocantins (Proex/Unitins) has encouraged extension practices in favor of students and the external community, through which students put into practice the acquired knowledge in the classroom, they develop creativity, improve interpersonal relationships that significantly cooperate with the formation and transformation of social spaces, especially the most vulnerable.

For Almeida (2012, p. 58), with the extension, “the student starts to change his posture towards the other, changing attitudes, values and understanding his role as a professional of tomorrow”. In this treadmill, it is important to highlight the words of ^{Fernandes (2011}, p. 141), when he says that:

[...] the university extension brings to students and professors the opportunity of coexistence and involvement with social realities different from other cultures, which instigates the formulation of new questions about the dynamics of social relations, about the socio-economic problems of the Country, on national and local culture and on the issue of solidarity, issues that can be materialized in expanded discussions at the university, through research and in the classroom environment.

Finally, it is possible to infer from the study carried out that Proex/Unitins has sought to innovate and encourage the implementation of extension programs, projects, courses and events with the academic and external community, as a way of integration, socialization and overcoming social inequalities.