Ei-iE

The Third World Congress of Education International, meeting in Jomtien, Thailand, from 25 to 29 July, 2001:

1. Recognising the reality of globalisation brings both challenges and opportunities but that in terms of impact current patterns of globalisation, driven by powerful economic forces, governments and international institutions, threaten the working conditions of education personnel by introducing a neo-liberal model to dismantle the welfare state and move to a competitive state by privatising education;

2. Concerned at attempts to change education from a human right provided through public service for the collective good to a commodity to be acquired for private advantage;

3. Recognising that pressure is required at the national and international levels to oppose the inclusion of education in the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS) and to ensure that the policies of the World Trade Organisation(WTO) , the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowledge public education as a human right;

4. Noting that the 2001 report of the Committee of Experts on the application of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of Teachers (CEART) states There has been a tremendous expansion of education against a background of pauperisation of teaching and learning conditions creating an environment unattractive to potential recruits and to teachers currently in service.

5. Acknowledging that demands for predictability, accountability, flexibility, and efficiency have led to new forms of management in education and have resulted in a deterioration of working conditions and relationships in education;

6. Recognising the increasing importance of international unionism to organise and campaign effectively for patterns of globalisation that is human rights based, people-oriented and based on mutual help and solidarity;

7. Concerned at the levels of stress and burnout in education workers;

8. Congress recommends that EI and its member organisations shall;

a. Extend union membership to include all education personnel if appropriate;

b. Organise education personnel on part-time and temporary contracts as well as those working in the non-formal education system if appropriate;

c. Demand the trade union rights guaranteed in international human rights instruments for all education personnel;

d. Promote and pilot new patterns of organisation in education to provide more job satisfaction through empowerment of education personnel;

e. Negotiate for the support services necessary to provide quality education;

f. Shape the use of new technology as a tool to help with the learning process to educate people;

g. Negotiate the right to and the terms for participation in decision making at all levels of education;

h. Explore collegial approaches to team work that give team members different responsibilities;

i. Negotiate terms of employment that reward those who choose to continue working directly with students instead of opting for management positions;

j. Challenge the time-consuming bureaucratic tasks that are required of educators;

k. Negotiate time for preparation, planning and team consultation for staff;

l. Negotiate salaries, entitlements and conditions of work commensurate with those with similar qualifications and responsibilities in other sectors and that are sufficient to fully accomplish their professional responsibilities;

m. Ensure quality training programmes, both initial and in-service, are available to all education personnel at times that make it possible for all education personnel to take advantage of the programmes.

n. Lower the number of students per class to improve the success of students;

o. Improve the working environment of education personnel through provision of functional institutions with modern equipment and improved, relevant pedagogical materials;

p. Make teaching a more attractive profession by reversing the trend to lower the status and recognise the increasing difficulty of the work:

q. Support teacher exchange among countries but avoid the brain drain of qualified teachers by wealthier countries;

r. Promote equality of rights between men and women, particularly concerning salary, working conditions and entitlements;

s. Oppose the fragmentation and disintegration of formal collective bargaining and the resulting variation in conditions of service;

t. Demand the establishment of appropriate collective bargaining and dispute resolution mechanisms for all education employees.