Ei-iE

"A reduction of the drop-out rate, expansion of early childhood education, better vocational education and training, increased use of new technologies in education, a better adjustment of higher education to new European standards."

Zimbabwean teachers cancelled their strike on 5 May to show their faith in the government, even though the interim US$800 monthly salary promised to them in February has yet to be paid.

Teachers and unionists from Cote d’Ivoire gathered in the capital, Yamoussoukro, for a 3-day national refresher workshop in late March. The event updated the training of master trainers on EFA and AIDS related issues.

Deploring the mounting toll of people, especially children, killed and injured in the zone of combat between Sri Lankan Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels, EI expresses its strong concern about the violent response by both sides in the continuing conflict in Sri Lanka.

Shortly after the May Day crackdown on Iranian workers’ rallies, teachers organised gatherings to celebrate National Teachers’ Day on 4 May. The teacher association TTA invited members to gather in front of the Education Ministry in Tehran and in front of the Education Department offices in the provinces.

EI affiliate, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), has welcomed the new Government’s decision to reorganise the education sector by creating two distinct ministries - the Ministry of Basic Education and the Ministry of Higher Education and Training.

EI members from 10 countries in the region travelled to Buenos Aires to participate in the 3rd Latin American Region Workshop for the EI EFAIDS programme, which began on 26 April.

UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education are organising an E-Forum on “Teachers and HIV & AIDS: Reviewing achievements, identifying challenges” from 18 to 29 May 2009.

Yevoo Pope Yao, local GNAT (Ghana National Association of Teachers) secretary of Dzodze, Ketu district, Volta region and regional EFAIDS trainer speaks about education and the EI EFAIDS Programme in Ghana.

EI will be holding a seminar on school leadership in Helsinki, Finland, from 6 -8 May 2009. The seminar will be hosted by Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö (OAJ), one of the EI's member organisations in Finland.

The 6th Bologna Process Ministerial Meeting marked the passage of ten years since the signing of the original Bologna Declaration in 1999 with the goal of setting up the European Higher Education Area. EI has been a consultative member of the Bologna Process since the Ministerial meeting in Bergen in...

A coalition of four international trade union organisations told the Iranian government earlier this week to respect their citizens' rights and permit free assembly on May Day – a day when the Iranian authorities traditionally meet peaceful demonstrations with violence and arrests.

Better employment conditions and quality education are two sides of the same coin, said Ulrich Thöne in his address to the national congress of the German education union, Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW), held in Nuremberg from 25-28 Apr.

Despite formal promises by the authorities, Iranian teachers are getting frustrated that the Pay Parity Law passed in 2007 has still not been implemented. As a result, the teacher movement there is calling for industrial action from 26-28 Apr.

The impact of the financial crisis on education services and on teachers salaries was one of the dominant issues considered when the EI European Regional Committee, which also includes the Executive Board of ETUCE, the body which deals with the European Union issues, met in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday...

The joint Global Unions statement by Education International, the Public Services International (PSI) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) was presented today to the 2009 United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) currently held from 20-24 April in Geneva, Switzerland.

"We must go on the offensive. In every country, in every region and globally. We must turn crisis into opportunity. For we have a powerful case to make, and to show that investment in quality public education for all is the key to recovery, the key to eradicate poverty, and...

A Burmese teacher activist and four other trade unionists were arrested earlier this month after taking part in the historic first National Congress of the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB).