Ei-iE

The 7th Education International (EI) World Congress meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 21nd to 26th July 2015:

1. Reaffirming the 1998 EI Congress in Washington resolution on early childhood education (ECE) and the activities of the EI ECE task force as decided by the 2007 EI Congress in Berlin and 2011 in Cape Town;

2. Recognizing that the ECE task force has been a major and important step forward to improve accessibility and quality of ECE as well as initial education and working conditions of ECE teachers worldwide;

3. Observing the reports, policy papers, advocacy, conferences and solidarity projects on ECE as outcomes of EI and the EI ECE task force work;

4. Noting in September 2015 the UN General Assembly is likely to pass a Post-2015 sustainable development programme including ECE. This action provides a solid platform for development and improvement of quality education and lifelong learning for all reaching from ECE and onwards;

5. Recalling that the privatisation and commercialisation of early childhood education services is a growing worldwide trend;

6. Considering that there is still very little documentation on the effects of privatisation on early childhood education at the international level;

7. Convinced that early childhood education is an important defence against the proliferation of child labour in several countries and regions of the world;

8. Pointing out that early childhood education is still not considered a universal right in several countries;

9. Taking into account the disparities in working conditions in the early childhood sector around the world by which basically female professionals are affected;

10. Considering that the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Policy Guidelines on the Promotion of Decent Work for Early Childhood Education Personnel are not yet familiar to all the key actors involved in early childhood around the world.

The 7th World Congress:

11. Urges EI to adopt the new opportunities the Post-2015 education goals present. Future progress on ECE requires support and new organizational initiatives from EI.

12. Calls for an organized approach in view of the recent ILO policy guidelines on the Promotion of Decent Work for Early Childhood Education Personnel. EI, the EI Regions and the member organizations must manage the necessary follow up work to secure the implementation of the guidelines. Also, acknowledge the UNESCO action agenda on the reinforcement of effective ECE programme delivery as outlined in the 2010 Moscow Framework.

13. Recalls that ECE is a battlefield for privatization and commercialization. Capital funds recognize ECE as an object of investments with promising big profits. Marketization of ECE to a commodity will prevent equality and social justice and holds the potential to intrude other sections of public education.

Mandates the EI Executive Board:

14. To establish an ECE Advisory Body in conformity with the EI Constitution article 14. The purpose of the ECE Advisory Body is to:

a. coordinate and organize activities, share knowledge and experiences;

b. promote research on ECE and, in particular, on a play based curriculum;

c. continue research into the causes and consequences of the privatisation and commercialisation of early childhood education around the world;

d. promote the ILO’s Policy Guidelines on the Promotion of Decent Work for Early Childhood Education Personnel;

e. improve initial education, continuous professional development and decent working conditions for ECE teachers.