Ei-iE

The 7th Education International (EI) World Congress meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 21nd to 26th July 2015:

Whereas:

1. education is crucial for uniting nations and bringing together individuals through understanding, solidarity and cooperation and is therefore vital to community life;

2. all languages convey values and culture and all forms of social interaction are established through them;

3. linguistic diversity must be preserved and enriched in order for cultures to meet and interact: this is a crucial challenge for world peace;

4. there is no hierarchy of cultures.

The 7th EI World Congress recommends that:

5. in the Executive Board and the various regional committees, the expertise of campaigners invited to take part in meetings must be given precedence over their proficiency in languages,

6. members lobby their governments:

a. to preserve linguistic diversity in education systems as this is also a means of preserving the associated cultures;

b. to make special efforts to ensure literacy and education for all – especially among women and girls – in their native language as well as in the official language if these are different;

c. to secure more teacher training in native and official languages where these are different;

d. to provide textbooks, software and any other educational resources published in these languages so that all pupils may be taught them;

e. to fight linguistic discrimination in educational settings.