Ei-iE

Education International’s 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, was officially opened on 21 July by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

The Congress will provide an opportunity for Education International (EI) to raise the profile of quality education, she told the packed auditorium at the Shaw Centre, adding that “investment in education is an investment in democracy”.

The Congress, which runs from 21-26 July, brings together 950 delegates and 750 observers from 400 organisations and 170 countries. Its theme is Unite for Quality Education, Better education for a better world.

Widespread influence

In her President’s Address, EI President Susan Hopgood said that the resolution passed at the 6th World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, to promote quality education had a significant impact. “Our influence is felt, our views are listened to,” she said, adding that EI’s definition of quality education – quality teachers, learning tools, and environments – had been accepted by those it seeks to influence.

Hopgood drew delegates’ attention to the post-2015 development agenda, the Human Rights Policy Paper before Congress, international trade agreements, girls’ access to education, and the impact on education of global austerity. “Teachers and trade unions are blamed directly for the irresponsible actions of banks and financial institutions,” she said.

“Another threat which demands our attention and our energy,” she said, is “the impact of climate change and the irreversible harm we are inflicting on our environment”. As a global organisation that champions education as the solution to many of the greatest challenges, she underlined, EI “must galvanise our members to confront the global warming challenge before it threatens our very existence”.

Cooperation with ILO

EI’s success in doubling its membership has made it a success story in the international trade union movement, said Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). EI and the ILO can cooperate around human rights, he said, not least because the labour rights of EI’s members are human rights. And, whilst trade union rights are protected by ILO Conventions, they are often violated by governments, he added.

Ryder highlighted that another area of common ground for EI and the ILO will be explored when the ILO examines the future of work. “The interaction of education and work will be key,” he said, “because the traditional notion of education at the beginning of life and work for the rest of it is giving way to the notion of lifelong learning.”

The opening session was also addressed by Bob Monette, the Deputy Mayor of Ottawa; the Honourable David Eggen, Chair of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada; and Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.