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With a newly elected executive board, Spain’s FECCOO is looking ahead at four years under the banner of “transforming through education”, following its latest congress held last week in Madrid.

The transformative power of education and the need for teachers to be an active part in the definition of education policy in Spain have been at the core of the discussions, debates and plenaries during the 12th congress of Education International’s (EI) affiliate FECCOO.

Delegates re-elected Francisco García Suárez as general secretary, who stated that “educators are the key to make education a tool for social change”. He presented the union’s action plan for the next years, which aims at reclaiming labour rights and good working conditions for teachers in Spain, after almost a decade of cuts in the sector. The union will also continue to demand the repeal of the “Law for the Improvement of the Quality of Education” LOMCE, infamous amongst educators because of its implicit austerity measures and openness towards privatisation.

The Congress included an international seminar which was attended by guests from more than 20 countries, including Education International (EI)’s David Edwards, and the National Education Assoication (NEA)’s Lily Eskelsen García, who presented her book Rabble Rousers: Fearless Fighters for Social Justice(Agitadores: Luchadores Valientes por la Justicia in its Spanish translation). Eskelsen García was joined by top Spanish human rights advocates such as judge Baltasar Garzón and former MP Cristina Almeida.