Ei-iE

In response to shrinking foreign aid, rapid digitalisation, and growing threats to democracy, Education International-affiliated Lusophone teachers’ unions convened on July 16 in Guinea-Bissau to reinforce social and policy dialogue. The meeting aimed to advance EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign, strengthening collective efforts to defend and promote quality public education.

Organised by Education International (EI) and the lusophone unions' confederation (CPLP-SE), the “Promoting effective collaboration to reinvent public education forum” explored how unions and policymakers can overcome systemic barriers and act on the United Nations recommendations to transform the teaching profession and build a new social contract for education.

During the forum, EI’s members took advantage of the summit of heads of state of Portuguese-speaking countries in Guinea-Bissau to call for a new dynamic of collaboration between unions and policymakers.

Unions from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Portugal delivered a clear message: effective dialogue is the key to developing the innovative policies that will guarantee increased and reliable public funding to invest in teachers and transform education.

Inaugurating the event, the Guinea-Bissauan minister of education, Dr. Herry Mané, emphasized the essential role that teachers’ unions play in the co-construction of public policies to improve education. Expressing concern that we are yet to unlock the full potential of social and policy dialogue in the Lusophone countries, he called on government officials and policymakers to “recognize teachers’ unions as reliable, irreplaceable partners” and to “build the mutual trust necessary to find the solutions our education systems need”.

The forum also addressed the current state of social and policy dialogue and the emerging challenges facing education systems: dwindling foreign aid, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and threats to democracy. It promoted reflections on the UN's recommendations to transform the teaching profession and how unions and decision makers can overcome the cultural, structural and capacity breaks undermining the development of a new social contract for education.

Angelo Gavrielatos, Go Public! campaign manager, introduced the campaign’s objectives and strategies, launching a coordinated planning process for action at both national and Lusophone community levels. His presentation set the tone for a dynamic exchange among union leaders, who voiced strong support for the initiative.

Herminia do Nascimento, President of SINPROF (Angola), welcomed the campaign as a vital intervention “for countries like Angola, where education is chronically underfunded.”

Building on this, Cristina Castro from CONTEE (Brazil) highlighted the campaign’s transformative potential, calling it an opportunity to “reinforce our struggle for a transformative education as the foundation of a future with social justice.”

Djilan Danfa from SINAPROF (Guinea-Bissau) echoed the urgency of action, inviting colleagues to seize the moment “to advocate for a law that will finally guarantee a satisfactory level of public funding for our schools.”

From Portugal, José Feliciano Costa, General Secretary of FENPROF, emphasized the campaign’s alignment with national priorities, stating that Go Public! is “fully aligned with our struggle for improved status for our profession.”

Concluding the round of interventions, Abraão Borges from FECAP (Cape Verde) shared a success story from his federation, illustrating the campaign’s impact: “Through mobilisation we won and improved our working conditions.”

The forum is the first one organised by EI and CPLP-SE in connection with the summit of the Community of Lusophone States. It concluded with the adoption of the Bissau Declaration, calling on government officials and decisionmakers to join EI and the CPLP-SE in the effort to improve collaboration, policy dialogue and to deliver on the promise of quality education for all.

You can find the Bissau Declaration in English and Portuguese down here.