A/CONF.189/PC.2/22 page 26 observation of certain religious rites or dress codes by some pupils in multi-denominational classes. Nonetheless, difficult as these questions may be, an answer must be found that is compatible with respect for human rights and takes account of the particularities of pupils from minority groups. As we have noted, the teacher’s role and “tact” are crucial in this regard. 2. Domination and assimilation 85. The policy of assimilating the children of minorities, thereby making them lose their identity, is a most harmful form of discrimination because it sows the seeds for the continuation of discriminatory attitudes beyond the generations practising them at any given time. Referring to article 1 of the UNESCO Constitution, Mr. Federico Mayor emphasized that distinctions, notably those based on language or religion, “undermine the right to education and the cultural rights of numerous minorities; they sometimes raise unjust and intolerable barriers among citizens of the same State”.96 Domination can take a variety of forms. It may be physical and direct, or else grounded in psychological and moral conditioning. For example, it may take the form of an affirmation of the complete or at least partial superiority of the culture, language or religion of the group exercising such domination. This generally involves a glorification of the dominant culture, including the dominant language, and a devaluation of the culture, traditions, standards and languages of minorities. Such domination is especially perceptible in the field of education, this being the most suitable means of shaping the mindset of those dominating (children of the majority) and those dominated (children from minority groups). 86. Many examples can be cited. School curricula and textbooks are replete with examples of attitudes deriving from such psychological conditioning, affirming through both approximations and lies that the history, culture and language of the dominant group have always been and still are superior. Schoolbooks thus teach children, including those of the various religious minorities, that some of them are alien elements, whereas this is not, in fact, the case: representatives of these religious minorities are for the most part descendants of indigenous people who converted to the religions concerned.97 87. Domination sometimes goes beyond mere psychological conditioning and is actually accompanied by physical discrimination. An obvious case is that affecting minority groups under military domination, including raids made by the occupying forces in schools attended by the children of minorities.98 Physical domination may also involve a ban on the use of the language of the minority group, even outside the classroom setting. Some children are thus reportedly beaten for using their own language at school and schoolmasters face arrest if they recognize the existence of the language and culture of the group in question.99 This, too, is an obvious case of such domination or discrimination where power (historical, demographic, political, military, etc.) is transposed to the educational field to express directly or indirectly the position of dominance of a particular group, culture, religion or language. This transposition is all the more serious because it can shape the minds of young people as a result, and may lead to discriminatory attitudes being reproduced by successive generations. 88. Lastly, excessive attention to identity characteristics - which could be described as identity-related “narcissism” - as affirmed by the law or in school textbooks, or else by the dominant ideology can, even when there are no minorities in a country, lead to xenophobia, a negative representation of aliens and discrimination.