EPA Newsletter March 2021
Dear EPA members and partners,
I am glad to send you this new EPA newsletter. I hope you and your families are all well. I know well that these months have been very busy for your associations. These days, the work of our organisations is even more important than ever to strengthen the bond between parents and schools to achieve the effective education our children need. You can count on EPA’s support in whatever you need to achieve this goal. Just let us know how we can help you and we will do our best.
The Belgian government has published the Act amending a.o. the Companies and Associations Code (CAC) in the framework of the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 virus (Belgian Official Journal December 24, 2020). The Act has as its primary objective to take urgent measures concerning the decision-making of companies and associations in the framework of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also proposes a number of definitive measures in the context of the digitisation of the decision-making process of companies and associations. Fortunately, this Act allows us the possibility of holding statutory General Assemblies in a semi-virtual format. With this new format, the GA invitation should include the address of the venue of the meeting but also a link to assist online. To hold a valid general assembly, the meeting chair must be physically present at the venue. The rest of the attendees have the right to attend the meeting either in person or online. In any case, the right to vote of all members must be guaranteed.
The Board has been closely monitoring the evolution of the pandemic hoping to hold the first 2021 General Assembly in person. During our last Board meeting, we assumed it was not possible. We sincerely hope that this will be possible for our second General Assembly in 2021 and we are currently working on this scenario. Furthermore, we wish to hold our pending Special General Assembly as soon as possible to adopt the statutes amended during the Vienna GA in the presence of a Belgian notary as required by law.
Although you will receive the official invitation for the GAs, please save the following dates in your agendas:
- May 21st. Special GA (Brussels + online).
- June 18-19. First 2021 EPA GA (Bilbao + online).
In addition, in the next few days you will receive detailed information about a very interesting EPA webinar that we are organizing for April 24th.
As you may know, EPA is involved in the consortium of the Preschool to Primary School Project Erasmus+ project. The main purpose of the project is to develop resources and a training programme, which support the successful transition of children from preschool services to primary school with the integrated engagement of Early Years Practitioners, Primary School Teachers and parents. As one of the EPA’s tasks, we have launch an online survey. We would appreciate very much the input and advice from our members and partners. You can access the survey using this Link.
I am also attaching information about some events that will be held in the next days. Maybe some of them may be of interest to you or your members.
- ALL DIGITAL WEEK 2021 (Mach 22-31). You can find detailed information of the central events in this Link.
- WEBINAR Whole education approach to bullying prevention – First international meeting about school bullying organised by the World Anti-Bullying Forum and UNESCO (March 23). You can register in this Link.
- WEBINAR Projects of life and skills development: Different approaches to valuing parenting in work and life (March 26). You can find the programme HERE and register in this Link.
Before concluding this newsletter, I want to thank you on behalf of the Board for your continued support and collaboration. Looking forward to meeting you f2f as soon as conditions allow.
Víctor Petuya
EPA President
