Day 1 Coedupia 2025<\/p>\n
We began the first day of the 2nd International Congress of Piarist Pedagogy with the celebration of the Eucharist which was presided over by Fr Felicien Mouendji, General Assistant for Africa. In his homily, Fr Felicien recalled the words of St John of the Cross \u2018love is the only law\u2019, and emphasised the value of education not only for instruction but also as an opportunity for prevention.<\/p>\n
This afternoon saw the official inauguration of the 2nd International Congress of Piarist Pedagogy \u2018Education 360\u00ba\u2019, with the participation of more than 200 Piarist educators both religious and lay. During the welcome, led by Andrea Horv\u00e1th and Fr Tibor Galaczi, Provincial Secretary all the participating demarcations were briefly introduced. Fr Viktor Zs\u00f3di, Provincial of Hungary said that the times in which we were living were both \u2018turbulent and wonderful\u2019. \u2018We should see them as a kairos<\/em>,\u2019 he emphasised, \u2018an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel, as educational institutions are increasingly becoming missionary institutions, on the front line of a \u201cChurch Going Forth\u201d. Fr. Zs\u00f3di emphasised: \u201cAt this conference we celebrate the common treasure we call the Piarist vocation which gives us faith and hope for mission even in difficult situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Fr Javier Alonso, coordinator of the Irreplaceable Ministry Team welcomed the attendees and recalled the first international meeting held in Chile and how the subsequent work made possible to reach this second Congress.<\/p>\n Fr. Alonso provided a detailed explanation of the programme\u00a0 of the coming days. Various forms of communication will be used: talks with workshops will be combined, group meetings and round tables will help the participants to exchange their experiences. Father General Pedro Aguado also had a few words for the attendees. He invited them to place themselves \u201cin an integral dynamic to fully engage in all the planned activities, that is what the 360 degree Congress slogan means\u201d. Fr Pedro highlighted some of the challenges Piarist schools may face such as integral education \u2018which makes our centres bearers of a proposal of full meaning\u2019 or innovation \u2018from what we are, always open to the new in order to bring us to the central\u2019. \u2018The challenge is not novelty but doing usual things in a new way,\u2019 he said during his speech.<\/p>\n The day’s main talk was given by Claudia Uribe, former regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNESCO and UNESCO representative in Chile. She reflected on the state of education in the world. Professor Uribe explained that \u2018more and more children around the world have access to education\u2019. This is a milestone since the majority of the world’s population has attended school at some point in their lives. However, these figures are sadly in contrast with other some negative factors such as the growing inequality between countries and regions of the world. This makes clear that \u2018the right to education continues to elude the most disadvantaged children such as those with disabilities, indigenous and stateless children – and especially girls are the ones who belong to these groups\u2019. And the fact is that according to the data, despite the progress made over the last 50 years, \u2018there are still 750 million illiterate adults around the world, the majority of them being women\u2019. Among the problems Uribe highlighted was the challenge of artificial intelligence in education, \u2018which opens up a new world of both possibilities and challenges\u2019. “We know it has to be done carefully,” he said during his presentation, \u2018but the great potential of the AI can lead to a more personalised and broader learning\u2019. The conference presented some data that encouraged audience involvement in a lively conversation between the speaker and the participants in the second part of the presentation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n