Ei-iE

Education International has written again to Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, following the re-arrest of Ethiopian Teachers' Association members Antene Getnet and Meqcha Mengistu along with another teacher from the south.

Arrangements for the 5th EI World Congress in Berlin are being finalised. Over 1,600 representatives of member organisations have indicated that they will be in attendance at the Congress in the Estrel Convention Centre. Documents are being printed for circulation to participants. Hotels are finalising bookings. Detailed plans are being...

The International Labour Conference (ILC) Committee on the Application of Standards unanimously adopted the Report of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART) at its session of 1 June 2007.

Nearly half of Polish schools took part in a two-hour strike on 29 May called by EI affiliate ZNP to support demands for a 20% pay rise for education personnel, increase of expenditure on education and the upholding of the right to early retirement until at least 2011 and the...

Samual Morales, former teacher and regional president of the Colombian Trade Union Confederation (CUT), has been released after spending 3 years in prison.

Up to one million South African public sector workers are set to go on strike today demanding higher pay. It will be one of the country’s largest strikes in more than a decade.

Teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Senegal are on a 72-hour strike from 30 May to 1 June.

At its 26th Annual Conference which took place in April, EI member organisation the Zimbabwe Teacher’s Association (ZIMTA) called on its government to address the severe political, social and economic problems that are leading to massive brain drain of professionals.

Thousands of teachers took to the streets on May 26 to protest against what they called the Government’s meagre salary offer to them.

EI joins the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) in mourning the death of founder member and national treasurer MacDonald Mangauzani on 27 May. Reports suggest that he succumbed to internal injuries sustained from brutal torture while in police custody last February.

EI held a School Leadership Meeting at the NASUWT Hillscourt Education Centre in Birmingham, England on 15 - 16 May 2007. The meeting, which was hosted by NASUWT, was attended by 30 participants from 13 different countries. EI was represented by Elie Jouen and Denis Sinyolo.

A London Communiqué, taking stock of the progress so far and identifying areas for future work, was adopted at the Ministerial meeting of the Bologna Process in London from 17-18 May.

EI and ESIB (The National Unions of Students in Europe) signed a partnership agreement in 2004 to work together on promoting the joint interests of higher education staff and students. At its last board meeting last week, ESIB changed its name to ESU (European Student Union).

EI wishes to congratulate all those teachers and their unions who put substantial time, effort and creativity into lobbying for improvements to public education during Global Action Week.

From 10 to 13 April 2007, the Free Trade Union of Education Workers (STEB) organised a national 'Training of Trainers' workshop on HIV/AIDS prevention through schools in Bujumbura (Burundi). It was supported by both EI and WHO-AFRO.

As the number of school-age children grows, so too does the need for teachers, and the need for improving the quality of education. Teachers are key actors in this process, but they are still not being sheltered from the devastating HIV and AIDS pandemic.

In the context of the EFAIDS Programme and Education for All in particular, the four teachers’ unions which constitute COSSEL (Senegalese Committee of Teachers Unions United against HIV/AIDS) held a workshop at the end of April on the reinforcement of teachers’ capacities on education-related matters.

In March the state government of Maharashtra, India announced its intention to ban sex education in schools across the state. The Indian teachers' union AIFTO immediately condemned the move as a "retrograde step in the otherwise progressive state of Maharashtra." If the ban goes through, the state will join Karnataka,...