Mato Grosso's reading slump prompts calls for education reforms

A recent survey of reading habits shows that only 36% of Mato Grosso residents have read at least part of a book in the three months before the interview, the lowest figure in Brazil's Center‑West region and the second‑worst nationwide, behind only Rio Grande do Norte.

Despite the state's strong economic performance and record agricultural exports, the low literacy level is viewed as a threat to future development. Officials, educators, businesses and families have been urged to address the problem, emphasizing that inadequate reading skills hinder understanding of legal documents, medical instructions, contracts and election promises, and impair learning in subjects such as mathematics and science.