The Fourth World Congress of Education International, meeting in Porto Alegre (Brazil)
from 22 to 26 July 2004:
Acknowledges that schools are not separate from communities and should have close
cooperation and harmony. Communities have exceptional abilities for appraising, analysing and
planning their educational needs and schools must be able to address the needs;
Believes that sense of community alienation in education of children brings a sense of
disconnection from educational process and disrupts educational socialisation or acculturation of
education;
Believes that community involvement does not mean that states deviate from their
responsibilities of providing education for their children;
Rejects appointment of low quality para-teachers, volunteer teachers, part time or contract
teachers with lowest possible salary in the name of community involvement;
Accepts that community has a value and that it must be reflected in education in scope, content,
organisation, discipline and delivery and must encourage the sense of roots, responsibility and
ownership;
Recommends building community approaches and methods for supporting lifelong educational
needs.
Urges member organisations:
to accept and acknowledge their accountability towards the objectives community
approaches;
to build institutional ability and commitment to respond to community needs;
to strengthen their ability to respond to the needs of parents and local community and deal
with media and social organisations with appropriate accountability and transparency.
Urges EI Executive Board to establish a policy on community education to foster community
involvement in all aspects of education;
Urges governments:
to support local communities with knowledge, skill, resources and orientation to be involved
in their children's schooling;
not to respond to weak and failed central authority by promoting community involvement.
