Ei-iE

Leaders of teachers’ organisations in the Arab region are outraged by the recent verdict of a Bahraini appeal court in which it sentenced the President of the Bahraini Teachers Association (BTA), Mahdi Abu Deeb, to 5 years imprisonment for taking part in national demonstrations in 2011. The Vice President of...

Workers from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece have called for a general strike next Wednesday, 14 November, to protest against government-imposed austerity measures. It is the first time in history that there has been a coordinated call for general strikes in four countries at the same time.

Many teachers, their colleagues, and their communities, primarily in New York and New Jersey, were struck hard by Hurricane Sandy. Their homes were destroyed, and their schools and workplaces severely damaged. Many families still find themselves facing an emergency, lacking clean water, food, clothing and new power outages.

Obama was supported by both EI’s national affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), because of his involvement in maintaining public services and promoting education in particular. EI urges Obama and other global leaders to continue and increase their spending on education and quality...

The inaugural Conference of Education International’s new Arab Countries Cross-Regional Structure was held this week in the Monroe Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon. The Conference was attended by 44 representatives of 26 EI member organisations from Arab Countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

On 5 November, schools across Quebec joined an event hosted by Laurier Macdonald High School in Montreal, to launch Media Literacy Week 2012. Students had the opportunity to talk with a panel of experts about online privacy as part of this year’s theme Privacy Matters.

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has demanded that the federal Government in Nigeria pay teachers’ salaries in order to maintain their employment in financially-strapped States in Nigeria. The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), issued this demand in response to the statement by Professor Mohammed Ibn Junaid, the Executive Secretary...

"We must make every possible effort to provide support to the Syrian children and teachers in the refugee camps in Jordan," said EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen and ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow, who visited the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Mafraq on 28 October. They met with refugees and...

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), one of EI’s national affiliates, has commented on an article written by Kwame Akyeampong, Senior policy analyst in the team in charge of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report.

France’s education unions have given a mixed response to President François Hollande’s priorities for education and his “road map” for National Education Minister Vincent Peillon.

“Think globally, act locally.” This was one of the calls to action heard at the closing of the EI Education in Crisis seminar, held on 18-19 October in Brussels. Building global support for investment in quality public services, including education and training, is vital, stated EI General Secretary Fred van...

UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, has called for a new deal on teachers to improve the quality of learning. Bokova made this call in her opening address to the Sixth Meeting of the Collective Consultation of NGOs on Education for All (CCNGO/EFA), held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, from...

Representatives of EI, the BTC-Belgian Development Agency, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education for All (EFA), UNESCO and the European Commission held a joint event on 11 October in Brussels, Belgium. They celebrated this year’s World Teachers’ Day (WTD), under the theme “Take a stand for teachers.”

The Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö (OAJ), one of EI’s national affiliates, has celebrated the 120th anniversary of preschool teacher education in Finland. OAJ president Olli Luukkainen reasserted the need for well-trained teachers at all education levels, including Early Childhood Education (ECE).

EI drew attention to the deprofessionalisation of the teaching profession at the meeting of the Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation concerning Teachers (CEART), held in Geneva from 8-12 October.

Swedish teacher unions have come to an agreement on 24 September with local employers concerning a much deserved wage increase, narrowly avoiding a strike.