A/CONF.189/PC.2/22 page 33 majority or minority position, learn to interact constructively with each other … [and] learn about each other, about specific cultural characteristics, their respective histories and about the value of tolerance and pluralism”.124 113. However, multicultural schooling, which depends on taking into account racial and/or religious diversity and on customizing the curriculum, is not sufficient on its own to teach tolerance. In order to avoid devaluing or overvaluing different cultures and thereby avoid a sense of hegemony, fear and intolerance, intercultural education based on a comparative view of different cultures must be introduced gradually, with due account being taken of local particularities.125 114. Free basic education should include, as we have said, a minimum element of interculturalism. The following criteria may be listed:126 (a) Learning two or more languages, depending on each State’s requirements and the resources available; (b) Openness to other countries’ heritage: teaching the history, culture, languages and religions of minorities and of the majority is a vital pre-emptive tool to improve understanding of others and promote a positive image of others’ culture;127 (c) The need to prepare multicultural, integrating educational curricula that value the knowledge of different cultures and civilizations and encourage a feeling of self-esteem; (d) The adoption, in multi-ethnic and multi-faith societies, of general legislation that recognizes multicultural diversity and enshrines the principle of intercultural dialogue, particularly in and through schools; (e) The use of preventive measures or penalties to combat factors that might jeopardize social cohesion and hinder the promotion of intercultural and multicultural education, such as xenophobic responses, assimilative tendencies, discrimination in access to education, non-recognition of historical and contemporary diversities, the propagation by the mass media of racist and intolerant stereotypes, the adoption of educational systems that result in a loss of the history, language and traditions of minority groups and indigenous peoples, and a failure to reflect society’s racial, ethnic and/or religious make-up in the composition of teaching staff.128 115. Here again, teachers have an educational role of paramount importance: they should be tactful enough to encourage pupils to be inquisitive and to avoid the sometimes inconclusive results of intercultural education. They must exercise the greatest caution in this respect, and not expect a uniformly positive perception by pupils of the effects of intercultural education, regardless of the ethnic make-up of society. Objective factors (the weight of tradition, history, religion, social cohesion, etc.) and subjective factors (the pupil’s mentality, the parents’ circumstances, the educational dimension of the message, the teacher’s perseverance, etc.) interact and have a considerable influence on a policy’s success or failure.129 It is important to note, therefore, that intercultural education cannot be imposed by decree and that the road to tolerance and positive recognition of others will be long and hazardous.