Strasbourg, 09/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has adopted its first recommendation on the teaching of the history of Europe in the twenty-first century with the aim of promoting the European dimension in the teaching of history. Taking as its starting point that "ideological falsifications and manipulations of history are incompatible with the fundamental principles of the Council of Europe", they recommend that the governments of the Council of Europe's 43 member states use a number of guidelines when changing the way history is taught and also for teacher training and refresher courses. The document outlines a number of aims for the teaching of history, like promoting the basic values of tolerance, mutual understanding, human rights and democracy. It warns against falsifying or deforming the past for propaganda purposes, distorting historical sources and omitting or denying certain historical facts. History teaching should be reviewed with the aim of giving pupils "European awareness" that is broad-minded with regard to the rest of the world. The widest range of teaching aids should be used (archives, cinema, audio-visual, information technology, museums and oral history). The Committee of Ministers also recommends that each school devotes a day to commemorating the Holocaust and preventing crimes against humanity.