Ei-iE

The Global Campaign for Education has called on the South Korean authorities to respect the basic union rights of teachers in a powerful statement of solidarity delivered at its world assembly in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In a motion passed yesterday at its World Assembly, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) took a strong stance against the aggressive anti-union tactics carried out by the South Korean Government that have targeted the Korean Teachers Union (KTU).

David Edwards, Deputy General Secretary of Education International (EI), championed the motion supporting the KTU, which he said “further demonstrates the power of collective action for educational justice.”

On behalf of EI, Edwards expressed special thanks to the UK’s National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), both the UK Global and Argentine GCE coalitions, the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education, and the GCE for their unanimous support of the motion.

The South Korean Government, which is slated to host the World Education Forum in May – a major event focused on strengthening international commitments to the universal right to education – was singled out by the GCE it for its move to strip the union rights of more than 60,000 teachers.

South Korean authorities are urged to:

•             Fully comply with the international labour standards and respect and promote freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining without discrimination;

•             Respect the fundamental civil and political rights of all teachers, education workers and public employees, as citizens, and to thereby fully comply with the article 80 of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers stating that “teachers should be free to exercise all civic rights generally enjoyed by citizens”; and to

•             Take without delay the necessary measures to suspend all disciplinary measures imposed on the KTU and grant them full access to the World Education Forum facilities and activities.

Election success

Education International is also celebrating the election of EI Executive Board Member Mugwena Maluleke from the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) to the GCE Board, the re-election of EI representative Monique Fouilhoux as GCE chair, and the re-election of Camilla Croso as GCE President.

The GCE, of which EI is a founding member, is a civil society movement working to end the global education crisis, and aims at ensuring that states deliver the right of a free, quality public education to all. The GCE World Assembly continues until the 28 February.