Statutes
Tout Public
FIMEM STATUTES
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*Statutes voted at General Assembly – RIDEF Japan 98
I Aims and composition of the association
Section 1
The association “Federation Internationale des Mouvements d'Ecole Moderne”, FIMEM, was founded in 1957 for an undefined period. Its headquarter is situated in the country chosen by the General Assembly. The place is specified by decision of the Board of Directors.
Section 2
The Federation is a non-profit-making organisation. Its aims are the following:
- to bring together the pedagogical movements coming from all over the world, which recognise the Charter of the “Ecole Moderne”, Freinet Pedagogy;
- to establish contacts between them and with other movements and individuals working for the same educational, social and cultural aims, inorder to assure the permanent confrontation of ideas, research and experiences;
- to favour the correspondence and international exchanges between children, teenagers and adults;
- to plan, in general, all the measures likely to promote a better education and a better co-operation among peoples;
- to guarantee the circulation of information among all the members.
The federation has the following means of action:
- the producing and issuing of the publications and other information and working supports which favour the realisation of these aims;
- the formation of international groups of work;
- the organisation of training courses, exhibitions and other manifestations;
- the promotion of any other activity allowing the growth of initiatives at the pedagogical and cultural level of the adherent pedagogical movements.
Section 3
Composition and affiliation.
FIMEM is composed of pedagogical movements from all over the world, which recognise the charter of "Ecole Moderne", Freinet pedagogy.
In the countries where there are not any pedagogical movements of FIMEM and where, at the moment, there are not the required conditions for a movement to be formed, people as individuals can ask for their membership as corresponding members, that is to say, as a member who has only consultative power.
To be a member, the candidates must be proposed to the Board of Directors by a member movement of FIMEM. The Board of Directors submits the candidature to the General Assembly, which accepts or refuses it.
To become a member of the FIMEM any pedagogical movement must:
- recognise the Charter of the “Ecole Moderne”;
- provide a report of its activities;
- promise to participate actively in the works of FIMEM, and, as far as its circumstances can permit, to contribute financially to the smooth running of FIMEM;
- be composed of 20 (twenty) members at least and who work in five different schools at least;
- practise an action on a geographical area as large as 10 000 square kilometres or more;
- be organised in a democratic way, i.e., with an annual general assembly at least (except in special local situations), organising elections of the responsible;
- have a promoting activity of the Freinet pedagogy inside this geographical area;
- and have a relationship with other movements.
The General Assembly decides the amount of the subscription that will be required to each adherent movement.
Section 4
The federation membership can be lost:
- by resignation;
- by the striking out, pronounced for non-payment of the subscription or for serious reasons, by the Board of Directors, the interested member being first required to give its explanations. The member movement can resort to the General Assembly.
The General Assembly will always be the sovereign for all resorts. It can pronounce itself the striking out of a member of the federation according to the report of the Board of Directors.
II Management and working
Section 5
FIMEM is run by a Board of Directors composed of five members as a minimum. The exact number is specified by the General Assembly. The candidates are proposed by the member movements. They are elected by the General Assembly. The composition of the Board of Directors will try to reflect the international dimension of the Freinet pedagogy. The conditions of representation are to be precised in the internal regulations. Every second year, the Board of Directors is elected by the General Assembly and renewed at least by one third of its members. Each member of the Board of Directors commits himself/herself and is elected for a working contract of four years. A second working contract of two years is possible. The mandate can be declared void by the General Assembly for serious reasons or inefficiency.
The functions of the Board of Directors are:
- to assure the co-ordination of the international groups of work;
- to promote the pedagogical exchanges among the adherent pedagogical movements;
- to develop a policy of the federation based on the work of the member pedagogical movements and on the guidelines of the General Assembly ;
- to take the necessary public positions according to the working ways to follow, according to the actuality and to take all the urgent decisions needed subject to a report to the adherents;
- to submit the balance sheet and the budget forecasts for the approval of the General Assembly;
- to carry out of the financial decisions of the General Assembly;
- to find grants from national and international bodies in order to finance the activities of FIMEM;
- to propose to the General Assembly to vote for an internal regulation and its possible amendments;
- to guarantee to issuing of information for all the member pedagogical movements ;
- to collect for the debates and the General Assemblies all the propositions of the member pedagogical movements in order to make them known to all the member movements;
- to prepare the agenda for the General Assemblies;
- to submit its balance sheet and its programme of work to the General Assembly.
The Board of Directors elects among its members a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, as well as their Assistants, according to the possibilities of the Board of Directors.
Section 6
The Board of Directors must meet at least once a year, besides the General Assembly meeting. Exceptionally, it may be called, for supplementary meetings, by its President, on his own initiative or on demand of a third of its members. The presence of at least one half of the Board of Directors members is needed. The minutes of the meetings are written down. The minutes are signed by the President, by the Secretary or by their representatives. Those minutes must be communicated to the members of FIMEM through the regular publications.
Section 7
The members of the Board of Directors cannot get any remuneration for their office.
Section 8
The General Assembly is open to all the militants of FIMEM.
The Board of Directors proposes a Chairman for the meeting.
Only the representatives of each adherent pedagogical movement have the right to vote.
According to propositions made by the Board of Directors and ratified by the General Assembly, the number of votes of each movement is inscribed in the Internal Regulations and takes into account the number of militants of each movement.
The maximum of votes of a single movement is five.
The Board of Directors proposes the agenda of the General Assembly, which must be sent to the members with its convocation, three months before it takes place. The Board of Directors must include in the Agenda every proposal received from any movement at least four months before the date of the General Assembly, whenever a decision is asked by the proponent movement. If the subject matter doesn’t need but information and debate, it may be included in the heading “Diverse Matters”.
If, during the General Assembly, the delegates consider themselves not enough informed to take a decision, or if their initial position has changed during the debates, they may ask (by simple majority) for a delay of the voting to the next ordinary General Assembly or, if there is an urgency, to an extraordinary General Assembly. Between the two General Assemblies the Board of Directors will give the movements all the information. Any subject matter that needs a decision must be subject to voting in a General Assembly within a maximum of two years.
The General Assembly can change the chronological order of the agenda. The General Assembly listens to the reports on the management of the Board of Directors, the statement of finances and the general situation of the federation. The financial report must mention the settlement of the working expenses, the travelling expenses or the entertainment expenses paid to members of the Board of Directors. The General Assembly approves the account of the accountable years under review, votes the budget for the following financial years, deliberates upon the issues listed on the agenda, provides for the election and renewal of the members of the Board of Directors, comes down in favour of the admissions or the striking out.
The missing member movements can put forward proposals in writing in an advisory capacity, sending them to the Board of Directors, but they cannot take part in voting.
The ordinary General Assembly is called at least three months beforehand, once in two years. It can be called as an extraordinary session, at least three months in advance, on demand of two thirds of the members of the Board of Directors or on demand of one third of the voters.
Section 9
The President and the Treasurer with the previous agreement of the Board of Directors sanction the expenses. The federation is represented in court and in the society by its President or by any other member of the Board of Directors specially appointed by the Board of Directors itself.
Section 10
The decisions of the Board of Directors relative to acquisitions, exchanges, transfer of real estates necessary for this purpose must be submitted to approval by the General Assembly.
III Foundation, reserve funds, natural resources
Section 11
The foundation includes:
1) The necessary Real estates for the purpose of the association.
2) The amount of money paid for the buying back of the subscriptions.
3) The tenth at least of the yearly net income of the association's assets, which was capitalised.
Section 12
The foundation includes the property capitals, which are invested in registered Government stock certificates of investment trusts settled according to the eider dated 2nd November 1945 and to the subsequent texts or in registered stocks accepted by the Bank of France, as guarantees in advance. They also can be used either for the buying of more registered securities, after authorisation given by decree, or for the purchase of real estates necessary to strive towards the aims of the association, and of woods, forests or open spaces to be planted with trees.
Section 13
Each year, at the end of the accounting period, a reserve fund is made by the payment of the part of excess of resources which is neither intended for the foundation, nor necessary for the smooth running of the association during the first semester of the following accounting period. The quota and the reserve fund can be changed by the proceedings of the General Assembly. These proceedings must be notified to the Prefect within a week.
Section 14
The annual receipts of the association are composed of:
1) the part of income of its goods that are not comprised in the foundation;
2) the subscriptions and applications of its members;
4) the resources created in exceptional cases and, if necessary, with the consent of the Authorities concerned.
Section 15
A receipt and spending account is kept up to date together with a listed account, if necessary.
IV Changing in the statutes of the association and dissolution
Section 16
The Statutes of the association can only be changed or the federation dissolved on a proposal by either the Board of Directors or a tenth of the voters which compose the General Assembly, submitted to the Board of Directors three months at least before the needed extraordinary General Assembly. The General Assembly must gather at least half of the federation's voters plus one. If this proportion is not reached, the General Assembly is called one more time, as quickly as possible; and this time, whatever the number of the members present may be, it can legitimately deliberate. At any rate, the Statutes can only be changed or the federation dissolved by the majority of the 2/3 of the delegates present.
Section 17
The General Assembly appoints representatives for the selling-off of the goods and allocates the net asset to one or several similar establishments, public or state-owned.