Ei-iE

EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, took part in the national congress of one of the largest French EI members, the Syndicat national des enseignements de second degré (SNES-FSU). This congress, held in Reims, from 2-6 April, focused on “(Re)constructing secondary education for all”.

The EI national affiliate, the Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (ESTUS), has called for strike action by its members on 18 April. The trade union is opposed to an amendment to the 2012 national budget adopted by the Government which includes significant cuts in the budget for...

EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, took part in the national congress of one of the largest French EI member, UNSA-Education. The topic of the UNSA Education congress, “Taking up the challenges of the education system”, served as the core issue for the discussions held from 28-30 March 2012 in...

EI supports the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) demand that countries should honour their commitments to provide development assistance. The ITUC demand is set out in its statement to the thirteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), to be held from 21-26 April in...

At their annual conferences, two of EI’s affiliates in the United Kingdom, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Schoolmasters’ Union and Women Teachers (NASUWT), have voted in favour of further industrial action, including strikes. The organisations profoundly disagree with the Cameron Government’s policy on public...

In the current political and economic climate, the teaching profession is coming under new and ever-increasing pressures. A recent survey commissioned by one of EI’s affiliates in UK, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), showed teachers’ morale had worsened over the last two years.

EI representatives have been interviewed on radio recently, informing and raising awareness among the general public about the impact of the economic crisis on education and on educators’ training and professional development.

The Botswana Teachers’ Union (BTU), one of EI’s national affiliates, is suing the Ministry of Education (MoE) for denying vacations to teachers’ when schools closed on 30 March. Shortly before schools closed, the MoE wrote to public school educators, notifying them to continue “with their normal duties” after pupils had...

Four EI affiliates, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN), the Fédération québecoise des professeures et professeurs d’université (FQPPU), and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) have lent their support to the strike by students in Quebec against a...

Together with 30 other partners, including the International Council on Education for Teaching, UNESCO and higher education institutions, EI is working to build a global network that brings together education and public policy leaders to develop communication across national boundaries on initiatives to improve teaching quality and excellence.

The General Secretary of EI, Fred van Leeuwen, sent a letter of protest to the President of Benin, denouncing “the way in which the government of Benin has been disregarding trade unions and their members rights for some months now.” He also sent a letter of support directly from EI...

Publicly funded choice mechanisms in education help overcome school failure and reduce inequities, according to a new study on school choice and equity by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Despite huge international mobilization against his proposed execution, the life of Abdolreza Ghanbari is still at risk. The Iranian authorities could proceed with his execution at any time.

Over 40 EI affiliates’ representatives from 20 countries gathered for the 8th EI Annual Research Network (ResNet), held in Brussels, Belgium, from 28-29 March. They discussed the future of quality education and teaching, and how research can best support education unions’ advocacy work, particularly in light of considerable cuts in...

The economic crisis is being used to justify the complete deregulation and privatisation of public services in order to reduce costs. Widespread cuts in expenditure on public education are damaging both quality and equality of access to education, as well as undermining the status of teachers and teaching. Read more...

The continuing conflict in Syria is taking a heavy toll on education, as thousands of Syrian families take their children out of school and flee across the border to seek refuge.

The Committee of EI European region, the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), met with Ole Christensen and Alejandro Cercas, members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs at the European Parliament, together with three more MEPs.

Following Mahdi Abu Dheeb’s appeal hearing on 2 April, EI has learned that a decision about the release of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association (BTA) President has been postponed to 2 May.