Saquarema, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro, registered a growth of 126% in Youth and Adult Education (EJA) enrollments, going from 630 to 1,424 students. This result contrasts with the national trend, as Brazil had a drop of 24.9% in enrollments in the modality in the public network between 2021 and 2025, while the state of Rio registered a drop of 31.6% in the same period.
Among the students who returned to studying is Ana Carla Silva, 58 years old. She needed to relearn how to read after suffering two strokes in 2018. The social worker has lived in Saquarema since 2024 and found in the municipal EJA the opportunity to return to the classroom, where she is now enrolled in the 1st year of Elementary School.
Ana Carla's daughter, Juliana Bastos, 26 years old, self-employed, closely follows her mother's learning process, highlighting the determination she demonstrates both in the recovery of movements and in the effort to return to reading.
