23. Recognises the key role NGOs, cultural networks and platforms, as well as the abovementioned institutions play and should continue to play where formal intercultural dialogue structures, policies or programmes are less developed; encourages further dialogue between the EU and large cities, regions and local authorities, with a view to analysing more effectively (i) the connection between the urban models, which are home to citizens, and the success or failure of school systems, (ii) the benefit of formal and informal education for all children and families, and (iii) the coordination of education structures to promote an efficient i ...[+++]ntercultural dialogue;

31. Recommends that the Member States guarantee all children access to free, inclusive and quality public education at all ages, including early childhood education and care, and formal and non-formal education, promoting their emotional, social, cognitive and physical development, establish appropriate teacher-student ratios and promote social mix in education, in order to safeguard the safety and well-being of children, ensure that all children can benefit from inclusive high-quality education and thus maximise the education systems’ impact on equal opportunities and breaking the cycle of poverty;

whereas education — specifically free primary schooling for all children — is a fundamental right to which governments committed themselves under the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; whereas the target for 2015 is to ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling; whereas despite some progress in the developing world, this goal is far from being achieved.

21. Calls on the Member States to eliminate segregation in the field of education and the illicit placement of Roma children in special schools, where relevant, and to create the necessary infrastructure and mechanisms to facilitate access to quality education for all Roma children, to address early school-leaving among Roma pupils, inter alia by involving parents in the education process, to promote Roma children’s access to early childhood education and development services, to provide training for teachers so that they are able to address specific situations which may arise when working with Roma children, to provide inclusive support structures such as tutoring and mentoring to Roma students ...[+++] in order to prevent them dropping out of secondary or tertiary education, to ensure their access to the Erasmus programme, and to promote internship opportunities in order to enable them to gain appropriate work experience;

C. whereas, pursuant to Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important to guarantee all children the right of "participation" so as always to take account of their experience of and opinions on all matters affecting them, giving due weight in accordance with the age, maturity and intellectual development of the child; whereas that right is absolute and may not have limitations placed on it, and whereas ways must be found of communicating with all children, even children who express themselves in a way that is not easy for adults to understand, for example ...[+++]very young children, children with disabilities and children who speak a different language,

Believes that no child should be deprived of his or her fundamental right to education because of an inability to pay, and reiterates its call on all governments to establish a clear timetable for rapidly eliminating direct and indirect fees for primary education, while maintaining a high level of, or enhancing the quality of education, ensure by all appropriate means access for all children to secondary, technical as well as higher education; stresses that including children and communities themselves in decision-making about schools helps to make schooling more relevant to children's needs;