EI has strongly condemned attacks on Nigerian schools, teachers and students that have kept 15,000 children away from school since last February. News of the attacks by Boko Haram (BH) extremists came from IRIN, the news service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The attacks on state schools in the Borno State, North-Eastern Nigeria, have continued.
On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia on 17 May, EI calls on governments to honour the obligations outlined in the UN Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action (UN VDPA, June 1993). Those obligations have been affirmed as universal, indivisible and consistent with all human rights.
In early May, the All India Primary Teachers' Federation (AIPTF), one of EI’s national affiliates, organised a picket in front of the Indian parliament in New Delhi to raise awareness amongst the public about the need and importance of quality education for all.
EI and its European organisation, the ETUCE, have expressed solidarity with Greek teachers and their union in their call to maintain their right to strike. EI General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen has formally asked the Greek Prime Minister Samaras to uphold the civil rights of teachers in the interests of the Greek education system.
Education International is the voice of teachers and other education employees across the globe. A federation of about 400 associations and unions in more than 170 countries and territories, it represents 30 million educators in education institutions from early childhood to university.