Congress ends, but the fight is not over
Saying good-bye to 1400 participants, the last day of World Congress was not easy. Now the numerous plans and policies will be put into action by united and capable education unionists.
After an intense week, Congress came to a close with the adoption of resolutions on:
- Demand, resist, reconquer - demanding quality terms of employment for education staff
- Child labour
- Decolonising education
- Modern slavery
- Peace education
- Education union renewal
- Morocco
- Attacks on schools in Africa (urgent resolution)
- Djibouti (urgent resolution)
- Hong Kong (urgent resolution)
“Our goals are very simple: We want to change the world”
In her closing speech EI President Susan Hopgood thanked participants for the confidence put in her as EI leader and invited them to take the lead over the next 4 years and make the new EI policies a reality in their home countries. The aim until the 9th EI World Congress is simple: to change the world. The path there leads through the promotion of democracy, human and trade union rights, equity and social justice, advances for the profession and the affirmation of the vital role of educators, and the guarantee of the right to free quality public education for all.
With the year 2020 marking the beginning of the final decade of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Hopgood highlighted the inequality that was still present in many places and that affected many communities and minorities, the disregard for human rights and the rampant privatisation that hampers access to education.
She demanded governments to take on their duty and “govern”, fund education and make sure it was ensured for every single student. “We cannot address the assault on our planet, on human rights & democracy, on quality free public education and on our profession unless we look after each other, build our base and grow our strength. We must organise, organise, organise. We must and will fight!” she concluded.
The full speech can be accessed here.
In a new podcast Susan Hopgood explains why climate change is so high on EI’s agenda. Listen to it here.
