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It is impossible to talk about rights without also talking about education, such a powerful tool that transforms realities and allows us to go further. Even with the difficulties faced by the most vulnerable populations, education remains the most effective way to expand opportunities and ensure the full exercise of citizenship.
While still working toward equity in education, Brazil has achieved good results in recent years. In 2024, for example, the country had an illiteracy rate of 5.3%, the lowest in the historical series that began in 2016, and the proportion of people aged 25 or older who had completed compulsory basic education reached 56.0% in 2024, the highest percentage in the series. This figure shows how educational programs have made a difference, but it also makes us think about the changes still needed for more inclusive, high-quality education.
Many families served by IC have educational needs that mainly involve inclusion in school settings, but many mothers have also found in their studies a way to take care of themselves and envision new possibilities for their lives.
Mothers who found a path in education
Érica is the mother of two girls, and her story is one in which education also plays a leading role. She was unable to finish high school as a teenager but, as an adult, completed it through EJA (Youth and Adult Education). From then on, she never stopped studying: she earned a degree in Law while also studying Management Processes and is now taking a graduate program in Personnel Administration and Human Resources, along with a third degree in Information Security.
With an inspiring record, she says that educational inclusion programs such as EJA and FIES (Student Financing Fund) were very important in allowing her to keep studying. Today, she is grateful for all the courses she took, which led her to a better life. “For me, education sums up basically everything I’ve achieved,” she says.
Érica at her Law graduation
Danielly, also a mother of two, saw EJA as a way to complete her studies and, in 2026, she will finish high school. She says the experience has been transformative, especially because of the contact with other students, and she greatly values this stage of her life: “studying isn’t a waste of time, it’s a gain in knowledge.”
Despite the challenges of motherhood, she hopes to go to college or take a technical course to gain more knowledge, something she values deeply. “Education opens doors: doors to jobs, knowledge, learning, vocational courses and even college,” she points out.
Danielly (in yellow) with her EJA classmates
As mothers of neurodivergent children, Érica and Danielly faced similar difficulties on their educational journeys. Both had to balance school and college with caring for their children and, fortunately, were able to count on a support network. But options such as evening classes and distance learning were also important for them to keep studying.
Both greatly value the programs that gave them the opportunity to study. And they believe more retention programs should be created so that mothers can study without facing so many barriers.
Public policies must ensure equity
Ensuring quality education for all is, above all, a duty of the State. At Instituto C, we support families so that their educational rights are respected — from school accessibility to adequate transportation. Each public policy is a way of ensuring that everyone can learn. “They reduce structural barriers, strengthen school retention and promote equity, making it possible for everyone to access opportunities for learning and holistic development,” explains Fabiana Ribeiro, an educator at Instituto C.
Civil society organizations and the community itself are also strong allies in ensuring that education is complete. Everyone should act as an extension of the school, addressing the emotional, psychological and socioeconomic vulnerabilities that affect children and adolescents. When this effort is coordinated with the Rights Guarantee System, the protection and support network is strengthened, creating conditions for schools to fully dedicate themselves to their main mission: promoting quality teaching and learning.
Lualinda Toledo, an educator and technical supervisor at IC, stresses how much attention we must pay to the education we want to achieve as a society: “the education we have is far from the education we want. If we don’t value what has already been built and don’t fight for what we want, we will never achieve it, neither as a society nor as individuals.”
Programs that provide access to education
It is also worth highlighting the programs for continuing and entering education already underway in Brazil, which have made a great difference in people’s lives. Here are some of them:
Encceja (National Exam for the Certification of Youth and Adult Competencies): an exam for young people and adults living in Brazil or abroad who did not have the opportunity to complete their studies at the expected age, whether at the elementary or high school level.
– EJA (Youth and Adult Education): a modality of basic education that allows students to resume and complete elementary and high school in just a few years.
– ENEM (National High School Exam): an exam that assesses students’ academic performance after completing high school, and also provides access to higher education.
– SISU (Unified Selection System): a Federal Government initiative, developed by the Ministry of Education (MEC), that aims to democratize access to public higher education institutions throughout the country.
– Prouni (University for All Program): offers full scholarships, covering the total cost of tuition, and partial scholarships, covering 50% of tuition, at private universities.
– Fies (Student Financing Fund): a program that provides financing to students in tuition-based higher education programs.
Education at IC
For mothers who study, like Érica and Danielly, education is also a way to gain more financial autonomy and to learn more about their own rights and responsibilities. They also become role models for their children, and say they never stop encouraging them to study and learn more each day.
At Instituto C, the pedagogy and income generation areas are the ones most involved in working with mothers so they can continue their educational journeys and ensure their children can study with dignity. “The pedagogy area strengthens families’ participation in school life, ensures access to opportunities for holistic development and makes education a tool for inclusion, citizenship and social transformation,” says Fabiana.
“We guide and refer families, contacting the school, public agencies and other network services when necessary, to help ensure their rights are fulfilled. Strengthening, guiding and welcoming families is the main goal of our work,” concludes Lualinda.
