Delegates are the official representatives of member organizations. They are entitled to participate in the formal debates and to vote. The number of delegates to which an organisation is entitled is determined by the average amount of dues which it has paid for the four years between the Congresses. The Secretariat advises each member organisation of the number of delegates and votes allocated on the basis of the dues paid.

Observers are entitled to attend all of the Congress sessions but they are not entitled to speak in the formal debates or to vote.

Guests are invited by EI to attend the Congress. They are not allowed to vote. They may speak at the invitation of the President.

Resolutions are proposals for policy or action, or both, which are put before the Congress for adoption. They often contain a declaration of principle as well as the demand for action or a change of policy. They should be positive, clear and concise. Resolutions for debate at the World Congress must be submitted by affiliated organizations or by the Executive Board to reach head office at least four months before the opening day of the Congress (i.e. by 22 March). These resolutions are then circulated to affiliated organizations.

Amendments are proposals to alter and improve the original resolution. They may add words to the original resolution, delete or remove words from it, delete certain words and substitute other words. Amendments must be relevant to the resolution and must not be a direct negative to the resolution. Amendments to the Congress Resolutions which are circulated prior to the Congress must be submitted to reach head office at least one month before the Congress (by 22 June). The resolutions and any amendments will be set out in a document in a coherent manner by the Officers. This document will be circulated to delegates upon arrival at the Congress and will be reviewed by the Resolutions Committee when it is appointed by the Congress.

Urgent resolutions on matters which arise between the deadline for the submission of resolutions (22 March) and the Congress may be submitted up to the opening day of the Congress. The Congress Resolutions Committee will determine whether or not such resolutions meet the criteria for urgent resolutions. If the Resolutions Committee accepts a proposed resolution as an urgent resolution it will be listed for debate at the Congress and amendments may be proposed to it from the floor of the Congress.

Resolutions to amend the EI Constitution and By-Laws must be submitted by affiliated organizations or by the Executive Board to reach head office at least six months prior to the Congress (22 January).

The Congress holds debates on resolutions which are presented to it by the Executive Board or by member organisations. It also debates the reports which are presented to it and the proposed programme and budget for the following quadrennium.

The rules of debate are clear and simple: a delegate or member of the Board shall speak only once in a debate. The presenter of a report or mover of a motion, however, shall have the right of reply. The time limit applicable to all speakers is five minutes. Debates may be interrupted at any time by a point of order or a motion of procedure, in which case the time limit for each speaker is three minutes. When under time pressure, the President or Chair may propose to the Congress, however, that it reduce these limits. When given the floor, Congress delegates should always first state their name, and the names of their organisation and country. Words are translated simultaneously into several languages, therefore, people must speak clearly and not too quickly. Requests to speak must be made in writing to the Chairperson. “Request to Speak” forms may be obtained from the Greffier’s Desk (see below). Completed forms must be returned to the Greffier, who passes them to the President or Chair.

Draft resolutions are submitted in one of EI’s four official languages at least four months prior to the opening of the Congress by member organisations or by the Executive Board. During the plenary sessions, the Congress debates the proposed resolutions and any amendments and adopts or rejects them by voting on them. Voting may be by show of voting cards by the delegates present in the Congress hall or by roll call vote (see below). These resolutions then form the basis for many of the activities and programmes implemented by EI over the following four years.

Each member organisation designates a principal representative who may vote on behalf of the organisation’s delegation in a roll call vote and who collects and returns ballot papers on behalf of the organisation in the elections. The name and status/title of the principal representative must be advised in writing to the secretary of the Elections Committee at the Congress Information desk, or to the Greffier at the beginning of Congress, prior to the distribution of voting or ballot papers.

There are three different kinds of voting:

Standard voting
Voting on resolutions or other propositions put for decision to the Congress by the President is normally by show of voting cards. Voting cards are included in the Congress packages which the delegates receive upon registration. The President determines the outcome of the vote. Tellers are appointed by the President prior to the Congress. In the event of a close vote the President may call on the Tellers for advice about the outcome or to count the votes.

Roll-Call Vote
It is provided under the EI Constitution and By-laws that five organisations, holding not less than 20% of the total voting rights, may demand a vote by full delegation voting strength on an issue. To facilitate such a vote at the Congress, the principal representative of each organisation will be supplied with voting cards and a card identifying the organisation and its voting strength. The three voting cards will provide the voting options “For”, “Against”, and “Abstain”. The result is available immediately through an electronic counting mechanism.

Secret Ballot
The Principal Representative of each organisation will receive a ballot paper containing a list of the candidates, to which the scrutineer will affix a label containing a bar code identifying the organisation. The Principal Representative will return the completed ballot paper to a scrutineer or place it in a ballot box. The ballot paper should not be folded more than once. When all of the organisations have voted or the time set aside for voting is exhausted, the votes will be counted electronically. The votes on the ballot paper(s) for the individual candidate(s) and the identity of the organisation, will be processed electronically to add the number of votes to which the organisation is entitled to the total votes for the appropriate candidate(s) by the scrutineers, or by an operator, under the supervision of the scrutineers. The result will state the total number of votes available, the total number of votes cast, the number of valid votes and their distribution among the candidates. The Elections Committee will announce the names of the candidates elected and not elected, and the number of votes which each received, in the sequence provided electronically, except where the EI Constitution and By-laws provide otherwise. In the event of a substantive challenge to the declared results the ballot papers and the data entered will be verified.

The Congress’ Greffier assists the President. The Greffier distributes the request to speak forms which delegates must complete if they wish to intervene in the debates. The Greffier also collects the completed forms and passes them to the President or Chair of the session. The Greffier also receives other completed official forms, such as nomination forms and passes them to the appropriate authority. The Greffier also maintains a record of the proceedings of the Congress. The Congress Greffier’s Desk is located in the main conference room near the podium. During the plenary sessions of the Congress, the “Request to Speak” form and the “Nomination” forms can be obtained from the Greffier’s Desk.

1. A delegate or member of the Executive Board shall speak only once in a debate, unless otherwise agreed by the Congress. The representative of a Congress Committee presenting a report or a mover of a motion, resolution or amendment (not concerning a motion of procedure) shall have the right of reply at the close of debate on an item.
2. A request to speak shall be made in writing to the Chair (at the Greffier’s desk), except when related to a point of order or procedure. A delegate who is invited by the Chair to speak may yield the right to speak to another member of the delegate’s own union delegation. The Chair shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak.
3. At any time during the course of a debate the Chair may call a speaker to order if the remarks of the speaker are not relevant to the subject under discussion or if the speaker exceeds the allotted time.
4. The General Secretary shall have the right to speak on any subject.
5. Resolutions which have been submitted to the Congress by member organizations or by the Executive Board in accordance with the prescribed procedures, must be proposed and seconded by accredited delegates or by members of the Executive Board to the Congress in order to place them for debate before the Congress.
6. The proposer must speak to the resolution when it has been placed before the Congress.
7. The seconder may defer speaking until later in the debate.
8. Amendments to the resolution, which have been submitted to the Congress by member organizations or by the Executive Board in accordance with the prescribed procedures, must also be proposed and seconded by accredited delegates or by members of the Executive Board to place them before the Congress.
9. Amendments to a resolution must be taken immediately after the proposer and seconder (if the seconder chooses to speak at the beginning of the debate) have spoken. If the seconder decides to speak later in the debate, amendments must be taken when the proposer has finished speaking.
10. Each amendment must be disposed of before the next one is taken.
11. Each delegate may speak only once on any resolution or amendment to it which is placed before the meeting except the proposer of the resolution who may speak once on the resolution and once on any amendment to it. The proposer may also reply to the debate on the resolution ( or substantive resolution) before it is voted upon.
12. The proposer of a resolution may speak for a maximum of five minutes in proposing the resolution.
13. All other speakers in the debate on a resolution or amendments are allowed to speak for a maximum of five minutes.
14. In the interests of completing particular items of business, the Chair may, with the permission of the Congress, reduce the length of time speakers are permitted to three minutes.
15. After the proposer of the resolution or amendment and the seconder, if the seconder chooses to speak immediately after the proposer, have spoken, the chair will select speakers for and against the resolution or amendment, in turn. If during the course of the debate there are no further requests to speak against the resolution or amendment, the Chair may put immediately the resolution or amendment to a vote.
16. The debate on a question before the Congress may be interrupted at any time by a point of order or by a motion of procedure. The Chair shall give an immediate ruling in response to a point of order.
    A motion challenging the ruling of the Chair shall be put immediately to a vote.
    A motion of procedure shall be required in order:
    
    1. to adjourn the sitting;
    2. to adjourn the debate;
    3. to close the debate and/or vote on the item under discussion;
    4. to proceed with the next item on the agenda.
    The above or any other motion of procedure shall be put immediately to a vote, except that the delegation submitting the resolution under discussion, may exercise its right of reply.

Interpretation is available in all four of EI’s official languages, namely English, French, Spanish and German. Some member organisations also bring their own interpreters for non-official languages such as Japanese. If an organisation wishes to provide interpretation in an additional language it must advise the Secretariat at least one month in advance of the Congress in order to ensure that a booth and the relevant equipment are available.

The EI Executive Board meets at least once a year in between EI World Congresses to evaluate the progress made in implementing the Congress resolutions and decisions as well as to take decisions on urgent matters which arise after the Congress. At every Congress, the election of a new Executive Board takes place, and is carried out in three stages: the election of EI Officers, the President, Vice- Presidents and General Secretary; the election of members holding regional seats and the election of members for the open seats. Nominations for the office of President, Vice-President or General Secretary must be supported by at least four member organisations from different countries, including that of the nominee. Together with the nominee’s statement of acceptance, the nominations should be received at least four months prior to the Congress. When there are more candidates than vacancies, then a secret ballot must be held. The nomination process for other members of the Board takes place at the Congress itself.

There are two Congress Committees elected at each congress from among the delegates by the delegates present at Congress. Firstly, the Elections Committee, consisting of at least 5 members, one from each region. This committee must ensure that elections are conducted fairly and in accordance with the Constitution and By-laws. Secondly, the Resolutions Committee, which consists of at least 15 members representing all of the regions. The Resolutions Committee prepares and presents recommendations regarding all resolutions and amendments to resolutions. If necessary, it prepares composite texts.

The Credentials Committee is appointed by the Executive Board to verify the credentials of all delegates and deal with any disputes about the representation of organisations at Congress.

The Progress Report gives an account of the implementation of EI policies and activities for the quadrennium since the previous Congress. The Progress Report will also indicate where future work is planned. Delegates are invited to present their views, raise questions, and make suggestions to which the General Secretary responds. The Congress is then invited to adopt the Report.

The Financial Report includes the income and expenditure accounts and the balance sheets for the last four years. The documents presented to the Congress are a summary of the financial statements and accounts which have been professionally audited. The full statement is available upon request from the Secretariat. After discussion, the Congress is then invited to adopt the Report and to designate auditors for the coming four years.

The Programme and Budget consists of the activities and strategies proposed to implement EI policies and the budgetary allocation to provide for them for the four year period between congresses. It is prepared and presented by the General Secretary. It may be adapted subsequently in the light of the decisions of the Congress on resolutions and other matters.

Delegations are arranged in descending alphabetical order by country name. The first country is selected by lot for each Congress so that the front row may not begin with the organisations from countries whose names begin with the letter “A”. For procedural purposes, delegates sit in a separate section from observers and other participants.

Education International grants financial assistance to member organisations in countries whose GNI per capita is below a certain margin. Assistance is granted to one delegate per member organisation for up to three member organisations per country. Eligible organisations are selected for allocation of assistance based on the size of the organisations’ dues-paying membership between 2008-2010.

For member organisations in countries whose GNI per capita is below US$ 5.000, assistance includes:

1. full payment of airfare
2. hotel accommodation (on the basis of double room occupancy)
3. subsistence costs (for each period of 24 hours between departure and arrival at point of origin)

1. payment of 50% of airfare
2. hotel accommodation (on the basis of double room occupancy)
3. subsistence costs (for each period of 24 hours between departure and arrival at point of origin)

We have compiled two lists for you: The first lists all countries exempt from a visa obligation - please click here to download it - the second lists all South African embassies and consulates - please click here to download it. General travel information can be found on www.southafrica.info.