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The city government has received the National Commitment to Literacy Seal from the Ministry of Education for the second time.
Published on 24/04/2026 - 16:36 | Updated
Education professionals receive the National Commitment to Literacy Seal - Photo: Rafael Catarcione / Rio City Hall The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Cavaliere, and the municipal secretary of Education, Hugo Nepomuceno, received literacy teachers from the Rio de Janeiro school system this Friday (April 24th) to celebrate the achievement of the Gold certification in the National Commitment to Literacy Seal 2025. This recognition, granted by the Ministry of Education, highlights public school systems that demonstrate consistent actions and results to ensure that children learn to read and write at the appropriate age, especially by the end of the 2nd year of elementary school.
– We have a gold medal. We are the city that has grown the most in the quality of public education. No one has improved more than us, and we are very proud of these results. That's why I say: what we have already done, we will continue to do. The Mathematics Olympiad is working, so let's also imagine a Rio de Janeiro Portuguese Language Olympiad, to reward readers and literacy teachers. You can truly count on my commitment to continue advancing the education of the Rio de Janeiro public school system. If you think you are proud today, we are much more so, to see this reality transforming – stated Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere.
The certification is part of the National Commitment to Literate Children (CNCA), a federal initiative that evaluates the adoption of policies, pedagogical strategies, and systematic monitoring of learning, focusing on equity and improvement of educational indicators.
– Every day we recognize and appreciate the continuous effort of our literacy teachers and the work of the Rio de Janeiro school system in training, monitoring, and providing pedagogical support, with a central focus on our students' learning. Today could not be any different – comments the Municipal Secretary of Education, Hugo Nepomuceno.
This is the second consecutive year that the municipality of Rio de Janeiro has received this certification. With this new achievement, Rio remains among the municipalities recognized nationally for its performance and initiatives focused on literacy in the early years of elementary school.
Two literacy teachers from the municipal school system illustrate how classroom work is behind the achievement of the certification. At 46 years old, Dione Maria de Santana da Costa, from the GET Professora Dalva Lazaroni school in Cosmos, joined the system in 2024 and fulfilled a dream that began to be resumed in Adult Education (EJA), after having interrupted her studies in childhood. – I always dreamed of working in the municipal school system. Going back to school changed my life and today being able to teach is the fulfillment of a purpose – she stated.
With 24 years of experience, Andréia da Silva Santos Dias, from CIEP Marechal Henrique Teixeira Lott in Realengo, has already taught more than a thousand students to read and write, and she emphasizes the transformative role of education. – Literacy goes beyond teaching reading and writing. It's about understanding the students' reality and helping them understand the world around them – she said.
How schools earn the National Commitment to Literacy Seal
To achieve gold certification, school systems must meet rigorous criteria established by the MEC (Ministry of Education), which consider both student performance and the structure of implemented educational policies. The main parameter is the achievement of the goals of the Literate Child Indicator (ICA), which measures the percentage of students who have developed the expected reading and writing skills on time, calculated from official assessments and information declared by the school systems themselves to INEP (National Institute for Educational Studies and Research).
The Ministry of Education also assesses whether the network has structured literacy policies, with planning, clear goals and integrated actions, as well as ongoing training for teachers and administrators, the use of appropriate teaching materials, and the ability to monitor learning based on educational data.
The seal does not involve a financial award, but serves as institutional recognition and an instrument for inducing public policies. The gold certification indicates that the network has not only achieved a high level of performance, but has consolidated effective and sustainable practices to guarantee the right to literacy for all children.
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