(ANS – Brasilia)– Edebé-Brasil will give new prominence to the publication of digital resources for the education sector. This is what the Salesian Publisher promised at its official launch yesterday, Thursday, 21 November. The ceremony was held at the Israel Pinheiro Congress Centre in Brasilia.

The event was attended by the directors of RSE, the Salesian Schools' Network, and Edebé-Spain; the directors and officials of the various members of the RSE, and many other personalities including Bishop Leonardo Steiner, Secretary General of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference; Fr Natale Vitali, Regional Councillor for the American Southern Cone; Sr. Maria del Carmem Canales, Councillor for Youth Ministry of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; Fr Ángel Asurmendi, Provincial of Barcelona; Fr Nílson Faria dos Santos, President of the RSE; Sr. Rose Idália Pesca, Vice President; Fr Orestes Fistarol of the Conference of Religious of Brazil; and Fr José Marinoni, president of ANEC, the National Association of Catholic Education.

"What distinguishes Edebé-Brasil is that it started on the market as a digital publisher.This is what makes it original and important. It is a publisher that uses the tools of our time and concentrates on education. This led to its cooperation with Don Bosco Salesian education,” said Fr Nivaldo Luiz Pessinatti from the Executive Board of RSE.

Edebé-Brazilis the result of collaboration between RSB, the Salesian Network of Brazil, a body that has legal responsibility for RSE, and the Province of Barcelona, which coordinates the Edebé Spain publisher. The partnership was established on the recommendation of the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez, who suggested in 2010 that the people in charge of the RSB make contact with the Spanish publisher which had extensive experience in educational publications and even then had the necessary tools and programmes for training in the digital sector. In 2011, there were several meetings and videoconferences between Edebé Spain and the RSB until, in March 2012, the General Assembly of the RSB approved the collaboration agreement.

"From there we developed an extensive and rigorous work plan to prepare teaching material for the RSE, which is the first production of Edebé-Brazil," added Fr Pessinatti.

Among Edebé–Brasil’s first projects is Esemtia, a management programme that facilitates the work of academic leaders and allows the integration of the Salesian educative-pastoral communities, and the development of the Digital Learning Materials of the RSE. These will be launched next year and will be the first digital book and digital notebook, learning tools that will enable students to access and interact with web resources.

Published 22/11/2013