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Education International (EI) will increase its engagement with the concerns of member organisations, both directly and in partnership or through lobbying influential international organisations.

That’s according to EI’s General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, who addressed concerns that delegates raised after he delivered the Progress Report to EI’s 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, on 22 July. Van Leeuwen delivered his response at the third plenary on 23 July.

In relation to rights and employment conditions, van Leeuwen assured Etanislao Castillo, Associación Nacional de Prefesionales y Téchnicos de la Educación (ANPROTED), Dominican Republic, that EI would help with lobbying efforts to get its government to ratify ILO Conventions. Assistance was also offered to unions in Fiji, Botswana, Paraguay, Cameroon, Togo, Mali, France, and India.

In response to concerns expressed by Slawomir Broniarz, Zwi?zek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego (ZNP), Poland, that education quality has decreased due to austerity and the restriction of union rights, van Leeuwen said: “It is clear that austerity is a focal point for EI but more attention is needed for salaries and working conditions.”

Warfare/Violence

Several delegates had raised issues around the impact of warfare and violence on education. In response to comments from Itamar Marcus from the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Israel (ASSTI) and Joshe Wasserman from the Israel Teachers’ Union (ITU), van Leeuwen said that interaction at a political level was necessary because many of the challenges facing education require political solutions and political choices. “Also, the wellbeing and security of our members and their students depend on political decisions at the national and international level,” he said. “I consider it our task to influence those decisions, and not place our trust in prime ministers and foreign ministers, as Joshe Wasserman suggested. I do not think they have earned that trust. When politicians leave our classrooms, we will leave politics.”

He continued: “I am also of the view that EI’s role is not to make sweeping statements that could divide us, but on the contrary, to focus on what unites us and to create dialogue between affiliates operating in conflict zones whether it is the Middle East, the Ukraine, or elsewhere. Where it concerns our Israeli and Palestinian affiliates, I am confident that we will be able to do that despite many difficulties. It will require courage on both sides.”

He also addressed other concerns about warfare and violence expressed by delegates from the National Union of Teachers (NUT/United Kingdom), Syndicat général de l'enseignement de base (SGEB/Tunisia), All Ceylon Union of Teachers (ACUT/Sri Lanka), Uganda National Teachers' Union (UNATU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Teachers’ Syndicate of Lebanon (TSL), and the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

Solidarity assistance

The General Secretary extended the hand of friendship and solidarity to member unions in Suriname and Liberia in response to their concerns about the effects of natural disaster and the Ebola epidemic. “We have a solidarity fund which enables us to provide assistance to member organisations, so tell us how we can be of assistance to you,” he said.

Van Leeuwen also addressed concerns about the need to focus on the early childhood education sector, on higher education and researchers, and on education support personnel. These concerns had been raised by delegates from Denmark, the US, France, and Australia.

Photo Credit: François Beauregard