November 16th is a very special day which celebrates tolerance among people. So mark this day in your calendars because it’s Tolerance Day.

What is tolerance? Very simple question, right? Try to answer it. It’s no longer so simple.

With a reference to www.dictionary.com, tolerance is a fair and objectice attitude towards those whose opinions, beliefs, practices, racial and ethnic origins, etc. differ from one’s own.

How did November 16th become Tolerance Day? Well, in 1996, the UN General Assembly (by resolution 51/95) invited UN Member States to observe the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November. This action followed up on the United Nations Year for Tolerance, 1995, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 at the initiative of UNESCO.

In 1995, to mark the United Nations Year for Tolerance and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO created a prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence. It’s the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence and it rewards significant activities in the field of science, art, culture or communication. It is aimed at the promotion of a spirit of tolerance and non-violence.

Today we are promoting tolerance among the pupils of our school teaching them that they are all different but here, at school they are the same. They are equal among the equals. There’s no difference among them regerdless whether they are Croats, Serbs or Bosnians, Catholics, Orthodox or Muslims, tall or short, slim or fat, and so on. All these differences make them special but not better than others. The beauty of tolerence lies in accepting the differences and embracing them. Respect these differences even if you disagree with your peers’ opinion. Respect the difference.

You may all be different fish but at our we swim together!