In this paper we aim to analyse the causes of school dropout in EJA (Youth and Adult Education). We can cite social, political, professional, structural and institutional problems that are inadequate to cater for this public. For our research, we highlight the affective relationship between teachers and students as a possible cause of dropout. Our interest in this subject arose from our experiences in this educational area, motivated by our curiosity to find out the real causes of young and adult students dropping out of the EJA course, especially in literacy in the city of São João, PE. The research presented is ethnographic and documentary in nature, in which we will analyse the theoretical relationship presented with documents provided by the school and questionnaires carried out with students and teachers. In the analyses, we found that among the students enrolled, 50% drop out before the end of the course, and among these students, 15% to 25% are not considered literate, ending the class with 25% to 35% of successful students. We then sought to identify possible causes for this dropout in the relationship between teachers and students.