Ei-iE

On behalf of all its member organisations, EI has expressed its sympathy to its four affiliates in the Philippines after the entire village of Guinsaugon, in the town of St Bernard on the southern part of Leyte, in the central Philippines, was buried by a major landslide on Friday 17 Feb, following ten days of heavy rain.

The international teaching community is particularly distressed with the fact that an elementary school with 200 children and 40 teachers has been trapped by the mud. So far, only one child and one adult have been rescued from the school area. The current official death toll of 107 may rise tragically, as the rescue operations are carried out in very difficult conditions, and the final toll could pass 1 000. EI has offered solidarity assistance to its four affiliates: the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and Education Network (ACT), the National Alliance of Teachers and Office Workers (SMP-NATOW), the Philippine Public School Teachers’ Association (PPSTA) and the Teachers’ Organisation of the Philippine Public Sector (TOPPS).