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Leaders of Education International (EI) member organisations across North Asia have committed to “organise, organise, organise; day and night” and pledged to “strengthen solidarity across North Asia and to lay the foundations for ongoing cooperation.”

Teacher union leaders from Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan came together on October 23 and 24 in Seoul under the banner of the EI Go Public! Fund Education campaign.

Common issues

Describing their own major challenges, education leaders were surprised to discover the commonality of issues teachers are being confronted with in each of the four represented countries. They were left with no doubt that the shrinking of education budgets, and consequently the underinvestment in teachers and public education, was the root cause of teacher shortages and burnout.

Tackling uncompetitive pay, reducing class sizes, and addressing an ever-increasing workload, particularly driven by an out-of-control administrative burden and the need to deal systematically with deteriorating teachers’ mental health and well-being, were high on the unions’ list of priorities. An identified common, and deeply concerning, issue for teachers in Taiwan and South Korea is for instance a serious escalation in the number of malicious complaints against teachers.

Implementing the United Nations Recommendations in Taiwan

The National Teachers Association (NTA) of Taiwan stated that "our priority campaign issues aimed at addressing excessive workload and teacher well-being are reflected in the United Nations Recommendations calling on governments to support teachers by fully funding education, to respect the teaching profession by protecting teachers against malicious complaints, to improve working conditions by engaging teachers in decision-making and negotiations, and to raise the status of teachers. All these steps are necessary to achieve quality public education for all children at all education levels”, the union said. The NTA concerns about teacher mental health and well-being, which is being undermined by malicious complaints against teachers and excessive workload because of the ever-increasing administrative burden, are shared by colleagues across North Asia.

The NTA insisted that “we'll take the campaign as a platform of opportunities to support each other in realising the UN Recommendations that strengthen our campaigns in the subregion.”

Restoring respect for teachers and rebuilding the foundation of public education in Korea

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) explained that it stands firm in its commitment to the Go Public! Fund Education campaign, addressing the urgent need for sustainable investment in quality public education. KTU’s priorities focus on protecting teachers from malicious complaints through legislative reform, securing teachers’ participation and political rights in policymaking, and promoting democracy through genuine social dialogue.

“We call for laws that ensure reasonable class sizes and adequate staffing, strengthen teacher welfare, and advance human-centred education that empowers learners toward curiosity, creativity, and lifelong learning—not merely through technology, but through meaningful human relationships. ‘Honor Teachers, Bring Them Back to Students’—this is our collective pledge to restore respect for teachers and rebuild the foundation of public education for all,” explained KTU president Younghwan Park.

Increasing teachers’ salary in Mongolia

The Federation of Mongolian Teachers and Science Unions (FMESU), already on its ninth day of a nationwide strike urging the government of Mongolia to increase the teacher basic salary to 3.5 million tugriks (around 840 euros), reported that over 558 education institutions and around 30,000 education personnel have joined the strike so far.

The government has proposed to increase the teacher salary gradually from 2026 until 2028, reaching the demanded 3.5 million tugrik by 2028. The proposal was rejected by the FMESU as it fell well short of the union demands. With the teacher salary representing only 40% of the salary of a bus driver, urgent action is needed to lift the teacher salary if we are to attract and retain the teachers we need, the FMESU representative noted.

Campaigning for greater investment in education in Japan

The Go Public! Fund Education campaign was enthusiastically embraced by the Japan Teachers Union (JTU). With a declining education budget over the last 10 years, the UN Recommendations, as well as the Santiago Consensus, have allowed JTU to be more focused in the pursuit of their goal, which is to achieve greater investment in education. To that end, the UN Recommendation calling on governments to invest 6% of GDP and 20% of the national budget in education provides a clear and easily understood narrative. This helped raise the JTU’s profile across the teaching force, resulting in the union seeing a growth in new members in 2025.

All education unions participating in this Go Public! event left with a reinvigorated commitment to ensure greater investment in quality public inclusive education and educators in North Asia.