| Hello, *|NOME|* Literacy is one of the fundamental pillars for the full educational and social development of children. Difficulties in this phase can compromise lifelong learning, becoming an obstacle to the acquisition of other essential skills, which could expand opportunities for human development and social mobility. According to the 2022 Census, released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2024, the literacy rate of Brazilians was 93%. That is, in 2022, of the 163 million persons aged 15 and over, 151.5 million could read and write a simple note whereas 11.4 million could not. These results, taken in isolation, could suggest a very positive assessment of literacy in Brazil. Unfortunately, this is not what happens when the evaluations of the literacy and children's learning process are considered. The results indicate just the opposite. The set of SAEB evaluations reveals that many Brazilian children at the end of the 2nd year of elementary school did not develop basic skills of the literacy process, namely: (i) reading words, sentences and short texts; (ii) locating explicit information in texts of up to 6 lines, such as notes, chronicles and fragments of short stories; (iii) inferring information from texts that articulate verbal and non-verbal language, such as comic strips and posters. The data reveal that in 2021 just over half of the children (56%) at the end of the 2nd year were literate in Brazil, according to the established parameters. Seen in another way, the results indicate that almost half of our children did not have these basic skills for the proper development of the learning to read and write process. Due to the significant impact of the pandemic on learning, the 2021 cohort, which completed Elementary School, performed lower than in 2019. The SAEB 5th grade assessment of 2021 indicates that 18.4% of students who took the exam were unable to locate explicit information in short narrative and informative texts, in addition to not being able to identify the theme or the main character of a text. These students fit into the "insufficient" category and are unable to recognize the relationship of cause and consequence in texts or to differentiate an opinion from a fact in news reports. Although the results are worrying, 51% of the students who took the assessment were classified as "adequate". If the child does not learn to read properly, he becomes unable to understand basic statements of a short text. As a result, they have greater learning difficulties in other subjects, so that learning gaps accumulate with age. The accumulation of knowledge is limited – and consequently the formation of their human capital – as well as their ability to establish rudimentary causal links that allow them to progressively solve more complex problems and gain autonomy of reading and reflection.
The most serious, however, is the fact that this learning limitation mainly affects children from homes with fewer parents, less educated and with lower income, causing the original differences not to be overcome and in many cases even increased, thus limiting the capacity for social mobility and reduction of inequalities. In view of these unpromising results of our education, it is essential to develop effective public policies for adequate literacy and for the elderly, to try to mitigate the learning gap and ensure that more children reach the desirable levels of learning. An example that illustrates the impact of these policies is the "Literacy at the Right Age Program (PAIC)" (see here), implemented in Ceará in 2007. The initiative, developed in partnership with UNICEF and civil society institutions, focused on cooperation between the State and municipalities, offering regular training for teachers, support for school management and structured pedagogical materials and the adoption of proven effective literacy methods. In addition, PAIC has instituted external evaluations, such as Provinha Paic and SPAECE-Alfa, to monitor students' progress and guide pedagogical practices. The results showed a significant increase in the performance of students in Portuguese Language and Mathematics in Elementary School. The problem of the low levels of literacy of Brazilian children is admittedly serious and also "chronic" – already in 2002, it was characterized as such in a report produced by the state of Ceará that was one of the bases of an experience known among Brazilians and extremely successful. This scenario is alarming not only because it represents an educational problem at the basis of learning, but also because it represents a huge obstacle to social equity and the reduction of inequalities. To strengthen literacy and ensure that more children reach adequate levels of learning, IMDS has been dedicated to the implementation of evidence-based strategies. Through the "Evidence-Based Literacy" project (see here), IMDS, in partnership with the Edube Institute, seeks to support effective public policies, promote training for educators and encourage the use of proven-effective teaching methodologies. We aim to invest in the analysis of educational data and in the continuous monitoring of results, contributing to the creation of sustainable solutions that can reduce inequalities in learning and expand opportunities for children throughout Brazil. See you in the next "IMDS Letter"! Paulo Tafner CEO | 
