Bogotá (Colombia) On February 1, 2020, eight Presidents of the Institutions of Higher Studies (ISS) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Colombia met in Bogotá in the House of Sister Teresa Valsè of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirà (CBC), with the following objectives:
- reflection to structure a seminar on the Preventive System, as a contribution to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the Institute and as a strategy for advancing in networking;
- definition of strategies to spread the Global Educational Pact and to work with the Educating Communities;
- study of the draft decree of the Ministry of Education (MEN) which regulates the organization and functioning of University Institutes aimed at teacher training.
During the meeting, the participants were able to connect with Rome (Italy), via video conference, with the General Councilor for Youth Pastoral, Sister Runita Borja, and with Sister Ivone Goulart, collaborator of the YP Sector and Referent of the ISS-FMA, who encouraged them to continue with the commitment to network to consolidate communion in the Salesian style
From the evaluation of the meeting, it emerges that networking has been implemented and that the request of Pope Francis for a Global Educational Pact was accepted. In this regard, a space for reflection has been created to make a significant contribution to MEN (Ministry of National Education) Decree Proposal regarding the organization and functioning of University Institutes.
The next appointment will be on March 16, 2020 in Bogota, in the Province of Our Lady of the Snow (CBN), to share with some experts experiences on the Preventive System that will bring new ideas to continue the elaboration of a research project for a quality education according to Salesian Identity. This is to respond to the proposal, sent in November 2019 to all the DMA University Deans by Sister Runita Borja, General Councilor for Youth Pastoral, and Sister Piera Ruffinatto, Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium”, to implement on-site research in the various countries of the world, contacting experts and possibly institutions, to study the youth context and understand how the current scenarios affect the reality of young people and how they call on Preventive Salesian Education to encourage and guide change for the positive.
Starting from the results of this scientific level reflection, the Educating Communities will carry out seminars that will bring contributions to the content of the World Congress for the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the FMA Institute to be held in 2022 with the theme: The Contribution of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to education. Scenarios, challenges, and perspectives.