Bárbara Paz is the godmother of a startup that uses AI in education: ‘It is reducing inequalities’

Actress Bárbara Paz is the godmother of the edtech Letrus popular category of the Social Entrepreneur Award 2024. Led by professor Luis Junqueira and administrator Thiago Rached, the initiative is among the six finalists of the 20th edition of the competition promoted by Sheet and Schwab Foundation, which recognizes leaders in social innovation in the country.

“Letrus is increasingly reducing inequalities between students in public and private schools”, says Bárbara Paz.

“It works like this: in classes, teachers have this platform to encourage reading and interest in topics that fall into the Enem. Students write their essays and, in a few minutes, the AI ​​gives feedback, which shows how they can improve This way, teachers can, in real time, have an overview of how the class is doing.”

Recognized as the best educational technology in the world by UNESCO in 2020, Letrus took Espírito Santo from 6th to 1st place in the Enem essay. Currently, 391 thousand students use the platform, tutored by more than 4,600 educators.

“The system empties the student’s identity, wastes opportunities. The classroom is a place to nurture children’s potential, but we fall below the surface of obligations, rights and wrongs”, says Luis Junqueira, co-founder of the startup.

The actress released a video on Instagram in partnership with the newspaper’s profiles, asking for donations to Letrus through the MobilizAção platform, at Folha.com/plataformamobilizacao2024, where it is possible to learn about and support the work of this and other organizations.

• See the Social Entrepreneur 2024 finalists

The initiative that mobilizes the largest number of donors and the one that raises the most resources between October 11th and November 8th will be awarded on November 12th in a ceremony at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, when the nominees by the jury will also be announced.

For every R$1 donated, Ambev will donate another R$1, up to a limit of R$30,000, and will offer another R$30,000 distributed among the finalists who get the most donors. The proposal is to encourage the culture of donation in the country.

Among the other finalists are Belterra Agroflorestas (startup that restores degraded land with agroforestry systems) and Trampay (fintech that offers digital accounts for delivery people).

Also competing are Revolusolar (NGO that combats energy poverty with solar installations in favelas) and Super Nina (startup that combats sexual harassment in urban transport), as well as Ficam Sabendo (NGO that promotes public transparency).