EI defends educators’ rights at International Labour Conference
In an address to the 103rd International Labour Conference General Assembly in Geneva on 4 June, EI Deputy General Secretary, Haldis Holst, asked the delegates to support the Unite for Quality Education campaign and underlined the importance of the joint work between EI and the different sections of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
She asked governments to acknowledge that investment in education is central to promoting and realising human rights. “Education is part of the solution in fighting poverty, unemployment, and inequality,” she stressed. “Education is a strategy for decent work in itself.”
Investment crucial
In this regard she said that it was crucial that governments continued to invest in quality public education, in vocational education and training, in early childhood education, in higher education and research, and, of course, in quality teacher education programmes and in teachers. Without this investment, the Millennium Development Goalswill remain unattainable.
The Deputy General Secretary also called for a stronger partnership to bridge the worlds of education and training with decent work conditions. Holst stressed that the presence of unions at the bargaining table through institutionalised social dialogue mechanisms remains crucial to improve the quality of education and to develop coordinated and integrated public policies, which the ILO has marked as essential for sustainable recovery and development.
