Brasília, June 4, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The director of the European Observatory of School Violence, Éric Debarbieux, and the vice-director, Catherine Blaya, invited Minister Cristovam Buarque to participate in the 3rd International Conference on School Violence, in 2005, in Rio de Janeiro.

Debarbieux commended the partnership between the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the United Nations Education, Science, and Culture Organization (Unesco) to open schools on weekends as a matter of national policy.

According to a Unesco study, the indexes of violence in schools that are part of the project fell 30-60%. The program is already being developed in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco, and other states are adhering to the idea. (DAS)