Ei-iE

At the first plenary session of Education International’s 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, on 22 July, General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen introduced the Quadrennial Report, which summarised the work of Education International (EI) over the last four years.

Reinforcing the need for teachers to be listened to by governments and standing firmly against the privatisation of education, van Leeuwen’s presentation covered EI’s five priorities based on decisions taken at the 6th World Congress in Cape Town in 2011.

Rejecting privatisation model

Promoting quality education and protecting public education are two key objectives of EI, with both being threatened by a surge of for-profit businesses in the education field. “We reject the ‘pay as you learn’ concept,” said van Leeuwen. “The idea that you can somehow improve quality by introducing standardised testing, league tables, and performance pay, by ranking schools, by measurement, is wishful thinking. It does not work. What it will do, however, is generate angry teachers, stressed students, frustrated principals, and lots of paper work.”

Meaningful dialogue

Such developments make it vital that teachers’ voices be heard at negotiating tables. “Governments need to start listening to teachers,” said van Leeuwen. This also means “listening to their education unions at all levels where education policy is developed”. This is particularly relevant to EI which added 39 organisations from 28 countries to its membership since 2011 and now represents over 32 million members globally.

Global reach

“Only recently, we learned that four nations - Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Colombia, are secretly promoting the inclusion of ‘education services’ in TISA (the Trade in Services Agreement),” he said. “We have exposed their conduct and insisted that they stop auctioning off our school systems.”

In addition, lobbying by EI at a global level has ensured the UN intends to include education as a stand-alone goal in its post-2015 development agenda. EI’s General Secretary urged unions to ensure that their governments support that goal when a final decision is taken by the UN General Assembly in September. “That decision will imply greater international education funding - domestically and in terms of assistance - in the coming decade,” he said.

Solidarity

However, challenges still exist and EI intends to mobilise resistance to negative changes in further and higher education as part of its Unite for Quality Education campaign. “We have also stepped up our work in support of Education Support Personnel,” he said. “They play a crucial role in the delivery of quality education for the whole child, which is not sufficiently recognised”, and are the victims of outsourcing and casualisation.

At a local level, EI’s solidarity with teachers is made manifest by the many capacity building programmes it carries out in all regions. In addition, a new “light regional structure” is being proposed for EI’s affiliates in North America and the Caribbean, which will also facilitate better communication with and among them.

Tasks

Van Leeuwen concluded by reminding delegates of the tasks ahead: “to enhance education systems, restore our profession, advance our trade unions and build fairer, more democratic societies”.

The Quadrennial Report delivered by the Education International (EI) General Secretary is a summary of what EI and its affiliates have done, together, to carry out the decisions of the last Congress.

It is available to read in full here.

Education International’s7th World Congress is taking place from 21-26 July in Ottawa, Canada.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Castro - IEAL