Ei-iE

National laws, especially on gender issues, came under the spotlight at an International Labour Organisation (ILO)/National Laws Seminar evaluation and planning meeting attended by six EI affiliates from Sri Lanka. The seminar was organised by EI and its Norwegian affiliate, UEN, in Colombo, from 13-15 December.

The contribution of migrants to their host countries and countries of origin must be recognised. That’s according to Global Unions, the international trade union organisations, which include EI. Global Unions made the call to mark International Migrants’ Day on 18 December. In their statement, the Global Unions call for the...

The Central European University (CEU) is calling for applications for its third annual European Award for excellence in teaching in the social sciences and humanities. The award, launched in 2011 to mark the CEU’s 20th anniversary, is the first and only such pan-European honour and is accompanied by a €5,000...

EI has welcomed a European Citizens’ Initiative calling on governments not to count education spending as part of the deficit. The initiative proposes to “exclude from the calculation of each country's public spending deficit, that part of Government spending for education that is lower than the last five-year Eurozone average”.

Strengthening the participation of women in decision-making structures was the focus of EI Latin America’s Women Education Workers’ Network when it met in Costa Rica on 27-29 November.

The Berlin branch of the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft(GEW), one of EI’s national affiliates, organised a hugely successful industrial action on 4-5 December. More than 2,400 teachers and about 150 pupils participated in the strike, demanding improved living and working conditions for education staff.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA), two of EI’s national affiliates, have called on the Government to engage in honest social dialogue to ensure quality education in the country.

EI’s US national affiliates, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) participated in a hugely successful National Day of Action for public education on 9 December. This was the largest coordinated action to reclaim the promise of public education in the US, under the banner...

On this date, 10 December, Human Rights Day, EI pays tribute to educators around the world who fight for the right to live and work in dignity. These educators and their trade unions also fight for freedom of expression, assembly and association; the right to bargain collectively; and for all...

EI has joined the international trade union movement in criticizing a new agreement on global trade rules that is unbalanced and threatens to put new pressures on public services like health care and education.

The OECD's PIAAC survey is the first world-wide survey on adults' skills. It tested literacy, numeracy and problem solving ICT skills of adults aged 16-65. PIAAC covers only 17 countries from Europe.

The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius that took place on 28-29 November 2013 ended as a failure.

The OECD published the PISA 2012 results on 3 December 2013.

The EU and the US started negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in July 2013.

On 3 December 2013, the Council adopted the regulation establishing ERASMUS+, the European Union's Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport for the period 2014-2020.

A number of recent reports published by Eurydice demonstrate that the reality of teachers do not match the rosy picture that is painted by stereotypes.

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) criticised strongly the European Commission for its Annual Growth Survey, which repeatedly gives over-optimistic economic forecasts. According the MEPs, the European Commission is not taking sufficient account of these errors and not adapting its economic reform recommendations to tackle the ensuing social problems.

On 28-29 November 2013, the final conference of the ETUCE project Teacher Unions Preventing Early School Leaving through the Use of ICT in Education took place in Bratislava, Slovakia.