The Ministry of Education (MEC) in Brazil has extended the registration period for the National Literacy Seal, known in Portuguese as Selo Nacional Compromisso com a Alfabetização, with the extension set to 5 January under Edital No 20/2025 published on 31 January. The initiative forms part of the Compromisso Nacional Criança Alfabetizada (CNCA), a collaborative national effort to ensure children achieve literacy early in their schooling.
The scheme aims to acknowledge state, municipal and district education secretariats that implement effective practices to guarantee the right to literacy. Participation is open to all secretariats that meet the eligibility criteria. Registrations must be submitted by the municipal and state articulators of the Rede Nacional de Articulação de Gestão, Formação e Mobilização, known as Renalfa, through the Ministry’s Integrated Monitoring, Execution and Control System, SIMEc.
To register, the appointed articulator should log into SIMEc, open the CNCA module and select the Selo tab in the main menu to complete the online questionnaire. The questionnaire contains 21 questions for state and district secretariats and 20 for municipal secretariats. Applicants must then upload supporting documents in PDF format. All documents must be signed and contain up‑to‑date information as specified in the public notice.
Brazil National Literacy Seal categories and recognition
The National Literacy Seal is awarded in three categories: bronze, silver and gold. The emblem acts as a symbolic recognition of management practices and public policies that advance literacy goals. The ministry emphasises that the seal should not be used for the personal promotion of individual managers.
A presentation ceremony will be held in Brasília, with the date to be announced. The award intends to incentivise the adoption of policies, programmes, strategies and management practices aligned with the goals of the National Education Plan, PNE, and the CNCA. Among its central objectives is progress towards Meta 5 of the PNE, which seeks to ensure 100 per cent of Brazilian children are literate by the end of the second year of primary education.
The CNCA also targets learning recovery for pupils in the third, fourth and fifth years, a priority given the pandemic’s impact on this cohort. The programme operates in a spirit of collaboration between the federal government and federated entities. Rather than imposing a single centralised solution, the Compromise asks each state to design literacy policies in cooperation with its municipalities, taking local needs and specificities into account.
MEC’s notice and the Participant Guide outline documentation requirements and the evaluation process. The ministry’s Social Communication Office, with information supplied by the Secretariat of Basic Education, highlights that the recognition seeks to strengthen public management and reduce educational inequalities through targeted actions and accountable practice.
For secretariats preparing applications, the key steps are to confirm eligibility, complete the CNCA questionnaire in SIMEc, and upload signed PDFs of all required documents. Further details and the Participant Guide are available through MEC channels.
Key Takeaways:
- Brazil’s Ministry of Education extended the registration deadline for the National Literacy Seal to 5 January under Edital No 20/2025.
- State, municipal and district education secretariats may apply via SIMEc through Renalfa articulators and must upload signed PDF documentation.
- The Brazil National Literacy Seal recognises effective literacy policies with bronze, silver and gold distinctions and supports PNE Meta 5.
