UNITED NATIONS • Forum on Minority Issues 61. Curricula should adequately reflect the diversity and plurality of society and the contribution of minorities to society. 62. Curricula should promote the preservation and defence of minority languages, and identify and equip members of minorities with the educational tools necessary for their full participation in the society concerned. 63. Curricula relating to minorities should be developed in cooperation with bodies representative of minorities, and members of minority groups should, ideally, be in positions of influence in education ministries or other authorities deciding upon curricula. 64. State education authorities should ensure that the general compulsory curriculum for all in the State includes teaching of the history, culture and traditions of the minorities from the perspective of the minorities themselves. States should take measures to teach the community narratives of minorities to other groups. 65. The promotion of the cultural rights of minorities is necessary to further the fulfilment of their educational rights. These rights include access to written, audio and visual media materials in their own language in order to enrich the cultural lives of minorities. There must also be the free exchange of books and other educational materials and access to universities run by members of their national group in other States.3 66. Educational curricula should not include materials that stereotype or demean minorities, including compounded stereotyping of minority girls and women on the basis of both their national or ethnic belonging and their sex. Teachers and other education personnel should avoid the use of offensive names for an individual or a community or names not freely chosen by the individual or community concerned. Educational curricula taught to non-minority groups within the State should include materials designed to reduce stereotypes and racist attitudes towards minorities. 67. Members of the general population should have the opportunity to learn minority languages and thereby contribute to the strengthening of tolerance and cultural interchange within the State. 3 12 This provision is in accordance with article 2, paragraph 5, of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011