Ei-iE

Education International
Education International

EI surveys teachers’ working conditions

published 4 April 2014 updated 7 April 2014

EI is launching a world-wide survey on teaching and learning conditions, with the aim of bridging the gap between policy making and the reality of the classroom. The survey will be accessible online from today until the end of July in more than 10 different languages, and is part of EI’s assessment of Education for All. The results will be presented to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, later this year.

EI is making a broad call to teachers and education sector workers across the globe to participate in a survey that will assess teaching and learning conditions. Its objective is to allow education professionals to inform the discussions that are currently taking place at the United Nations and that will set the global development agenda for the next 15 years. The questions focus on topics such as the teachers’ working conditions in terms of workload, number of students, or resources available, the qualifications of the educators, their rights as workers, their motivation and the possibility for an active participation within the school system.

In the year 2000, the international community promised that by 2015 there would be “quality basic education for all children, youth and adults”. At this point, there is broad consensus and ample evidence that this will not be achieved. The Post-2015 global debate on education should, in view of EI, reflect the reality of the classroom and especially take into account the voice of education professionals. Hence, the survey focuses on the main areas that provide for quality education: quality teachers, quality tools and a quality environment, and asks the respondents to reflect their personal experience.

This goes in line with the statement of Fred van Leeuwen, EI’s general secretary, on the importance of highly qualified, self-starting and motivated teachers in the education system:  “It is after all teachers and their collective voice that define a successful education system. Reaching out to teachers directly, we can better shape policy that will improve conditions in the classroom”.

To access the survey please click here