Audit reveals that 44% of students in the 2nd year of elementary school in the public network were not literate in 2023 and criticizes lack of articulation and supervision
The (Federal Court of Audit) pointed to relevant disabilities in the execution of the. The program is the main initiative of the government of the president (PT) aimed at literacy of all children until the 2nd year of elementary school, as well as the recovery of learning from students from 3rd to 5th grade, harmed by the pandemic.
According to the agency’s audit, released at the plenary session of this Wednesday (25.Jun.2025), 44% of students in the 2nd year of public elementary school were not literate in 2023, based on data from the (National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira). Read to (PDF – 3 MB) of the judgment approved by the ministers.
Lack of articulation
The Court of Auditors highlighted the low articulation between (Ministry of Education) and subnational entities, with many committees “Created in an isolated way and with overlapping skills”.
“Committees can become redundant or, worse, act uncoordinated, leading to conflicts and ineffective execution of literacy policies,” says Minister Benjamin Zymler’s report.
In addition, by the end of 2023, 10 federation units had not yet implemented the local committees responsible for coordinating literacy actions, as established.
The information is in the 1st Evaluation of the National Literacy Child Commitment, cited by the TCU in the audit report. Read A (PDF – 1 MB).
The federation units that had not created the CEECS (State Commitment Strategic Committees), until then, are:
- Acre;
- Bahia;
- Ceará;
- Federal District;
- To;
- Pernambuco;
- Roraima;
- Rio Grande do Sul;
- Santa Catarina; and
- Sergipe.
Despite the challenges, the court cited successful experiences in municipalities such as Franca (SP), Trizidela do Vale (MA) and the state of Rondônia, where the strengthening of pedagogical management led to improvement in indicators.
OVERSIGHT
Another critical point is the lack of proper monitoring. The commission created to monitor the execution of the policy has not yet been installed, which compromises social control and transparency of actions, according to the TCU.
“The fact that the CPA (Permanent Committee on the Monitoring of the National Literate Child Commitment) has not been installed may have due to MEC’s operational difficulties […] or the delay of public policy managers […] or the fact that the MEC was directing efforts to assist the implementation of CEECs ”says the report.
Recommendations
The TCU has recommended to MEC to evaluate the maturity of state committees and direct actions to qualify management in the territories with the worst results. The idea is for the agency to use Renalfa (National Articulation Network) as a technical support.
The Government’s goal is to literate 100% of children by the end of the 2nd year and reach, by 2030, at least 80% of literate students in all municipalities. The TCU, however, considers the goal challenging, especially in the North and Northeast regions.
