Rio de Janeiro City Hall inaugurates Educational Technology Gymnasium on Ilha do Governador, bringing the total to 314 units.

GET Commander Guilherme Fischer Presser expands innovative full-time education to 132 students in the municipality - Photo: Iago Campos/Rio City Hall

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Cavaliere, inaugurated, this Wednesday (07/01), the Comandante Guilherme Fischer Presser Technological Educational Gymnasium, on Ilha do Governador, in the North Zone, which serves 165 elementary school students. With this facility, the city now has 314 GETs (Technological Educational Gymnasiums) operating in the municipal education network, benefiting 132 students.

The goal of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall is to reach 350 GETs (Educational Technology Centers) by the end of 2026, and to serve 150 students. By the end of 2028, the city will have 500 Educational Technology Centers distributed throughout all territories of Rio de Janeiro.

"It's a source of pride to inaugurate a school like this, focused on innovation, which encourages children from elementary school onwards to use basic programming languages ​​and robotics, strengthening their learning of Portuguese and mathematics. Here, there's management planning, monitoring of goals, results, and learning. It's an innovative methodology that shows that the school of the future is from Rio," said Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere.

During the inauguration, the mayor visited the unit's collaborative space, dedicated to the development of projects and work by students, and highlighted the importance of access to technology as a central axis of the educational model. This teaching method integrates different areas of knowledge, focusing on critical thinking, creativity, sensitivity, and student leadership, through active methodologies and a comprehensive education approach that extends beyond the traditional classroom setting.

— GET is the most innovative teaching model recognized by the MEC (Ministry of Education), and we are very proud to continue expanding this important public policy throughout our city. Here, we teach our children and teenagers with a hands-on methodology that enables students to solve everyday problems and develop good projects, combining areas of knowledge so that we can increasingly advance in preparing these students for the challenges of the 21st century — said the municipal Secretary of Education, Hugo Nepomuceno.

The initiative was recognized by the Ministry of Education (MEC) as one of the most inspiring experiences in the country in the management and pedagogical projects of comprehensive education. This recognition reinforces Rio's position as the Innovation Capital and consolidates the presence of digital and media education in the municipal public school system.

GETs adopt the STEAM approach — Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics — and represent a new conception of school for the 21st century: spaces focused on didactic-pedagogical innovation, experimentation with knowledge, and active collaboration between students and educators. The proposal prepares students for the challenges of the future by bringing technology and practical learning closer to the daily lives of families and communities.

Each unit boasts modern infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment. In the collaborative environment, students work with artificial intelligence, 3D printers, laser cutters, projection glasses, robotics kits, and sewing machines—tools that make learning concrete and connected to the reality of the territories where the schools are located.