Alana Gandra
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - The World Education Forum (Fórum Mundial de Educação) (FME) begins tomorrow in the city of Novo Iguaçu, state of Rio de Janeiro. It is a major international event in the education area and will bring together specialists for four days to discuss a central topic: "Citizen Education for an Educator City," ("Educação Cidadã para uma Cidade Educadora"). There will also be a series of conferences on other topics, such as "Education, Culture and Diversity" ("Educação, Cultura e Diversidade"); "Ethics and Citizenship and the Problem of Exclusion" ("Ética e Cidadania em Tempos de Exclusão"); and "State and Society in the Construction of Public Policies" ("Estado e Sociedade na Construção de Políticas Públicas").

The forum will be officially opened by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and attended by the ministers of Education, Fernando Haddad, and Culture, Gilberto Gil, as well as the mayor of Novo Iguaçu, Lindenberg Farias, and members of the FME international council. A "March for Education as a Right and for Peace" will also be part of the opening ceremonies.

The FME is an offspring of the World Social Forum which was held in 2001 in Porto Alegre. Its objectives are to work for universal access to quality education (educação inclusiva), while promoting peace and sustainable development activities. The forum supports quality education that is public (state-run), free, secular and available to all.

It is expected that 20,000 people will atend the forum.

Translation: Allen Bennett