Ei-iE

Tomorrow, October 5, 2006 marks the 12th annual World Teachers’ Day, proclaimed to acknowledge the teaching profession and celebrate the key role played by teachers everywhere in nurturing the next generation and building democratic societies.

Lebanese teachers’ unions estimate that 25 teachers were among the approximately 1,000 civilians killed in this summer’s attacks by Israeli forces. About 50 schools were completely destroyed and 500 more were severely damaged.

Two teachers were arrested and detained on 23 September for being members of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA). One of the teachers had already suffered severe injuries, at the hands of security officers, earlier this year.

EI wrote to the President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, on 14 Sep to condemn the assassination of another three teachers in August this year. That makes a total of 22 teachers murdered in the country since the beginning of 2006.

EI strongly supports the candidacy of Professor Mesfin Wolde-Mariam on behalf of its affiliate, the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association (ETA), for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

In support of the United Nations campaign for the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals, EI urges all education workers to take part in the STAND UP action to be held on 15-16 October.

As the open-ended strike by Palestinian teachers enters its fourth week, there is still no indication that the government will pay salary arrears owed to teachers.

In a strongly-worded letter to the President Robert G. Mugabe, EI demands that the Zimbabwean government respect the trade union right of all workers.

With Bulgaria poised to enter the European Union and its public education system crumbling, now is an important time for teacher trade unionists to work closely with Bulgarian education officials to advocate for policy changes and funding improvements to benefit students and teachers alike.

The Norwegian Post-Primary Education Trust Fund was officially launched last week to focus on secondary education in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Today, Teachers and education workers will join with United Nations offices, governmental and non-governmental agencies, civil society and religious groups to promote the ideals of peace and non-violence on International Day of Peace.

EI Executive Board member and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Edward J McElroy has been honoured as the first recipient of the Yitzhak Rabin Education Leadership Award at a dinner in Washington, D.C.

About 300 representatives of EI member organisations from 27 countries of the Asia Pacific came together in Jakarta this week for their triennial regional meeting.

For the second time this year, security forces have disbanded a constitutional meeting of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA). EI, which represents education workers around the world, wrote to the Ethoipian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi telling his government to stop harassing the teacher union.

Education International is concerned that the OECD’s influential annual report, released today in all 30 OECD countries, stops short of urging member governments to significantly increase their investment in public education.

As part of the Global Labour University network, EI would like to inform its members that the next academic year of Global Labour University is now open for applications. Two Master prgrammes on Labour and Globalisation for trade unionists are offered in 2007-2008 by the network, formed by the international...

In this issue, you will find reports of EI’s lobby meetings in Geneva during the G-6 meeting in July. To download TradEducation, please clickhere .

Teachers around the globe are concerned about the impact of large-scale international testing and its uses and abuses in development of national education policies.