(Brazil). The Salesian Forum for the Global Educational Pact took place online on 17 and 18 June 2021, an event promoted by the Salesian Network Brazil (RSB) Schools and Communication. The Forum involved educators and students in the commitment of the Global Educational Pact, renewing the passion for an education based on the principles of the new humanism for the benefit of future generations.
The participants, 1275 students and educators, representatives of 94 Schools of the Salesian Network in Brazil, as well as Speakers and Provincial Coordinators, formed a great movement to generate change on a planetary scale, so that education may be a creator of fraternity, peace, and justice.
The Forum was preceded since the beginning of the year, by a series of initiatives, including the drafting and publication of an e-book entitled Educommunication in the Perspective of the Global Educational Pact, the presentation of the proposal to the Directors and Coordinators and the creation of a Web Site, with aids for the in-depth study of educational issues.
During the first semester, schools were invited to systematize and send projects carried out in the perspective of educational commitment. 55 experiences from different realities were sent, of which 5 were presented on the first day of the Forum. The experiences highlighted show how education can foster commitment to social, environmental, economic, political, and pastoral actions, promoting change.
The Forum had the active participation of students of Early Childhood Education and Fundamental and Middle School Education from all over Brazil. 3 testimonies were selected from each Province and school level. On the first day, a child, a teenager, and a young person shared with all the other students “the school of their dreams”.
The listening experience continued on the second day in virtual rooms where it was recalled that Pope Francis proposes the Global Educational Pact to promote a quality and inclusive education, more supportive and ready to give concreteness to the needs of humanity. “What can we do to make education help to build a better world for all?” The students answered this question in groups by identifying the commitments to be developed at the local level:
- Educate to respect and encourage the potential of children;
- Valuing the person, addressing social, moral, and physical distress (bullying, homophobia, racism, and any kind of prejudice);
- Promote integral ecology, economic and environmental sustainability;
- Encourage listening and participation of families and students in the projects promoted by the School;
- Promote a culture of solidarity;
- Educate to Communication;
- Ensure that mental health and the care of the other are valued alongside the ordinary disciplines;
- Continue to be a school that is a place for exchange of ideas, offering opportunities for interculturality;
- Implement flexible curricula open to sport, art, and technology;
- Promote education aimed at Social Transformation, combining theory and practice;
- Make the School a true social, political, fraternal stage, capable of welcoming diversity;
- Promote conscious and balanced access to digital technologies and information, promoting awareness and a critical sense.
At the end of the Forum, each School is committed to continuing the reflections, looking for ways to involve educators, students, and families in the construction of the Global Educational Pact.
Testimonies of the participants
