Ei-iE

Greek teachers have joined other public sector workers from all over the country to take part in strike action this week to protest against radical cuts that have been proposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund and implemented by the Greek government.

With unprecedented public demand for decent jobs, and pressure mounting on banks and the finance industry, the 2011 World Day for Decent Work today features over 400 actions across more than 80 countries.

Teachers’ unions in the Dominican Republic have mobilised the entire population to lobby the government to invest four per cent of its GDP into education.

Together with UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, and ILO, Education International has reminded national governments that "in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the gender dimension of teaching must receive particular attention, beginning with girls' access to schools."

Lärarförbundet, one of EI’s affiliates in Sweden, has welcomed the commitment by its government to invest SEK7 billion (US$1 billion) over the next four years to improve teacher training, raise the standard of mathematics teaching and improve completion rates in the humanities and social sciences.

This years’ World Teachers' Day theme - Teachers for Gender Equality - encompasses equality between female and male teachers; demands access for girls to gender-sensitive and quality education, and highlights the contribution of teachers and education in overcoming gender stereotypes.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has won its campaign to secure permanent contracts for more than 18,000 teachers. The move will benefit teachers who are currently employed on temporary contracts and will provide them with more favourable terms and conditions that include a higher salary and pension rights...

Teachers’ unions in France, representing both the public and private sector workers, have jointly called a strike on 27 September to denounce the deterioration of the country’s school system and demand ‘zero job cuts in 2012’.

A quartet of EI’s affiliates in the UK – the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU) – have launched an historic partnership for closer co-operation, campaigning, and promotion of trade union values.

World Teachers’ Day celebrations around the globe on 5 October will focus attention on the theme of ‘Teachers for Gender Equality’. Many education unions are already gearing up for the event by preparing actions that call for better and equitable working conditions, as well as demanding education systems that empower...

Delegates at the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA) have approved a formal declaration that will enable the EI-affiliated union to comprehensively advocate for teachers’ rights and freedoms, as well as to achieve quality education.

Representatives of the main teaching unions in Spain have called on the Socialist central government to take ‘a clear stand’ against deep cuts in public education budgets that have been imposed by largely Conservative autonomous regional authorities within the country.

For the fourth year in a row, EI welcomes the International Trade Union Confederation’s World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) which takes place on 7 October. On this day, all trade unions around the world will stand together to call for decent work to be put at the heart of...

Lecturers at leading UK universities have voted for action over planned changes to their pensions with more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of University and College Union members, who took part in a ballot, voting for a “sustained campaign of industrial action.”

In recent months, EI affiliate Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) has been leading demands for major improvements in the welfare of teachers within the country.

School will start a little later than usual this year in Kenya as teachers have gone out on strike across the country to demand the government awards permanent contracts to thousands of teachers.

Teachers in Italy have joined other public sector workers in mass strike action against cuts in public spending. Three million public sector workers went out on strike last week with major demonstrations in many cities including Milan, Naples and Rome. The protesters included teachers, transport workers and other public sector...