United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng said here on Saturday that education was the best tool to prevent genocide and other excesses against humanity.

Delivering the keynote address on ‘Education for future, and the future of education’ at the 20th anniversary celebrations of Madin Academy here, Mr. Dieng said human excesses could be stalled only through educating people to respect each other, to accept each other, to understand that the skin or faith does not determine their

Education should teach people that “my God is not mightier than your God, that my culture is not superior to your culture, that we are all human beings and that we all have the same human rights,” he said.

Mr. Dieng said education for the prevention of genocides should take lessons from the past.

“Learning about past violence and atrocity crimes, including genocides, teaches us about what we want to prevent in our present and for our future, and how to do it. As no region in the world is immune to the risk of atrocity crimes, this is important to all societies,” he said. Inaugurating the programme, Education Minister C. Ravindranath underscored the necessity of democratising education for the making of an ideal human being.

Madin Academy is conducting a series of programmes involving international guests as part of the Vicennium celebrations.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the valedictory function to be held on Sunday afternoon.