Rome (Italy) On 27 November 2020, the 2nd online meeting of the network for Formal Education of the Middle East-Europe Interprovincial Conference (CIME) took place. The participants were FMA and lay people who animate and coordinate the educational mission in Works at the provincial and/or national level in schools and Professional Vocation Centers owned by the FMA and in other schools, in thirty Countries of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
The online Journey proposed by the Youth Ministry Sector of the FMA Institute, was born from the encouragement of Pope Francis to “reflect and work together, as followers of Jesus who heals, to build a better world, full of hope for the future generations” (General Audience – 5 August 2020), and the need to re-read the educational realities of the various Countries of the CIME Conference, in this time marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first meeting, on 30 October 2020, the participants, animated by the General Councilor for Youth Ministry, Sister Runita Borja, and by Sister Elena Rastello, collaborator of the YM Sector, shared the experience of the scholastic Educating Communities that face with audacity and creativity the challenges of education linked to the health emergency, as Pope Francis highlighted: “Everywhere there has been an attempt to activate a rapid response through educational Informatics platforms, which have shown not only a marked disparity in educational and technological opportunities, but also that, due to confinement and many other existing shortcomings, many children and adolescents have fallen behind in the natural process of pedagogical development.” (Video message meeting “Global Compact on Education. Together to look beyond”)
The initiatives undertaken in the FMA Provinces to support families, to strengthen the formation of teachers and educators, and to regenerate life in the school communities were also shared.
The objective of the meeting on 27 November 2020 was: to think together of ‘a school beyond Covid’, in comparison with the Global Pact on Education and in the wake of the Church’s journey. The diversity of the countries belonging to CIME led to a rich discussion on the school situation and on the teaching methods implemented in the various school levels, from kindergarten, to secondary school, to Professional Formation Centers. Mutual listening to experiences helped to become aware of the synodal journey to share resources and identify new possibilities.
In the two meetings, Sr. Runita Borja spoke of the ‘new normal’ associated with some Salesian features of educational service. In particular, she recalled the concept of integral education:
“We are the ones who build the ‘school beyond Covid’, whose foundation is faith, through a careful reading of the signs of the times, nurturing good relationships, centered on the person, with flexibility in the use of environments, methodologies, and resources – online and offline – according to the criteria of sustainability, participation, inculturation, for an integral education of the new generations .”
The online Journey for Formal Education constitutes a way of preparing for GC XXIV and is in the perspective of empowerment for the recently erected Interprovincial Conference CIME.
The construction of a ‘CIME education village’ is completed in the work with the Salesians of Don Bosco for the elaboration of the Identity Card for the Salesian School of Europe (SSE), with the commitment to “pursue an integral culture, participatory and multifaceted, in which the value of our educational practices will not be measured simply by passing standardized tests, but by the ability to affect the heart of a society and give life to a new culture.” (cf. Video message of Pope Francis)
