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Good practice Imported

Piauí Inteligência Artificial — Brazil's First Compulsory AI Curriculum in Public Schools

Brazil · Teresina · See the Brazil profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 8% 73/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

In 2024 Brazil's Piauí state made AI compulsory from 9th grade through upper-secondary -- the Americas' first such curriculum -- reaching 90,000+ students in 540 public schools and training 680+ teachers with UFRGS. UNESCO named it a 2025 King Hamad Prize laureate.

90,000+ students
Students reached annually (annual, since 2024)
540 schools
Public schools covered (since 2024)
680+ teachers
Teachers trained (since 2024)
86 entries (4 laureates, 50+ countries)
UNESCO King Hamad Prize entries considered (2025)
Piauí Inteligência Artificial — Brazil's First Compulsory AI Curriculum in Public Schools

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Secretaria de Educação do Piauí (SEDUC-PI) with UFRGS, UFPI, UNIPAMPA, IFFar and Google
Period
2024–present
Keywords
AI literacy, K-12 education, teacher training, curriculum reform

Context

In 2024, Brazil's Piauí State Department of Education (SEDUC-PI) partnered with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), UNIPAMPA and IFFar to make Artificial Intelligence a compulsory subject in the state's public schools — the first territory in the Americas to do so, according to UNESCO.

Activities

The three-year curriculum runs from the ninth grade of Ensino Fundamental through the end of Ensino Médio, combining digital and in-person, low-resource-compatible activities, with AI ethics embedded across every module rather than taught as a separate unit; it is delivered by more than 680 teachers trained through the university partnership, reaching over 90,000 students annually across 540 public schools.

Results

UNESCO named the programme one of four 2025 King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize laureates, selected from 86 entries across more than 50 countries, with the international jury calling it 'a comprehensive and inclusive model, capable of empowering educators and social agents for promoting ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence in education.'

Conclusions

No independent study of learning-outcome gains has been published to date — the figures reflect curriculum reach and teacher training, not measured skill or achievement gains.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Compulsory three-year curriculum (grade 9 of Ensino Fundamental through the end of Ensino Médio), running continuously since 2024.
Staffing & skills
Secretaria de Educação do Piauí (SEDUC-PI), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), UNIPAMPA, IFFar, 680+ trained classroom teachers

Conditions for success

  • A multi-university partnership to design curriculum and train teachers at scale.
  • Low-resource-compatible activities so the curriculum works across under-resourced public schools.
  • AI ethics embedded across every module rather than as an add-on unit.
  • A state-level mandate making the subject compulsory rather than optional.

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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