Ei-iE

Jens Kalaene
Jens Kalaene

Equity and inclusion

We defend and promote the principles of equity and equality in education, in education unions and in society. We are fully committed to combating all forms of racism and of bias or discrimination due age, disability, ethnicity or indigeneity, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, language, marital status, migratory status, political activism, religion, socio-economic status, trade union affiliation, among others. We are committed to addressing these forms of discrimination through an intersectional lens, which enables a deeper understanding of the complexities of lived experiences.

I think Education International has a leadership role to play… If we’re going to have a more civil society, a more inclusive society, then we have to model that by including men but women as well, people of different ethnic groups or religious backgrounds. All of us have to be involved and be at the table and have that kind of respect.

Professor Mary Hatwood Futrell, First elected EI President, 1993–2004

Promoting and advancing gender equality has always been an Education International priority. We believe that education can play a key role in empowering women and girls and can contribute to breaking through the cycle of gender discrimination. The Education International Gender Equality Action Plan highlights three main priorities:

  1. Promoting women’s leadership and participation within education unions;
  2. Taking action to increase intersectional gender equality in and through education;
  3. Promoting and securing women’s economic empowerment.

The unequal and gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic risks erasing years of progress on equity and inclusion throughout the world. Together with our member organisations, we mobilise to challenge and help dismantle all structures of inequality in education and beyond. As part of this work, we have called for equity audits to be conducted at all levels of education in order to ensure the pandemic does not define the lives of an entire generation of students.

Our work in this area

  1. Publications

    Building Momentum to End School-Related Gender-Based Violence in the Time of COVID-19

    1 December 2022

    In 2021-22, Education International (EI), with the technical support of Gender at Work (G@W) and financial contribution from the National Education Association (NEA, USA) implemented a nine-month learning cycle to build further momentum among education unions in Africa to take action to end School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV).

    Building Momentum to End School-Related Gender-Based Violence in the Time of COVID-19
    1. Download the report
    2. Baixe o relatório
  2. Publications

    World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education 2022

    Conference Report
    30 November 2022

    The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference in Education (WIPCE) was held this year on the traditional lands of the Kaurna Nation, the original people of the Adelaide plains, at Tarndanya (place of the red kangaroo), Adelaide, Australia. WIPCE is the largest and most diverse Indigenous education forum in the world.

    World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education 2022
    1. Conference Report
  3. Worlds of Education 28 November 2022

    #16Days | Woman, life, freedom!

    Khazar Lotfi

    The death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman has sparked nationwide protests in Iran since September. Educators and students were amongst the first to go on strike in protest against the Islamic regime’s brutality and in support of Iranians fighting for their freedom.

    #16Days | Woman, life, freedom!
  4. Statements 10 November 2022

    Executive Board Resolution on Solidarity with Women and Girls in Iran

    On September 16th, 2022, Mahsa Amini was detained by a “Guidance Patrol” in Iran for allegedly wearing a loose headscarf and thus violating Iranian dress laws.  She was beaten and subsequently died. Her death sparked a furious response and protest among Iranian women and girls, who posted videos to social...

    Executive Board Resolution on Solidarity with Women and Girls in Iran
  5. News 7 November 2022

    France: Discussing inclusion among all educational professions, across all territories. It can be done!

    As part of the second annual meeting of education professionals organised by the Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes-Éducation (UNSA Education), 30 meetings in all regions and overseas territories will bring together more than 1,000 French educators on 15 November to discuss the question: “Inclusive society: what about education?”

    France: Discussing inclusion among all educational professions, across all territories. It can be done!
  6. Research

    Women’s Participation in Education Unions in a Time of Covid-19

    Carol Miller, Houda Sabra
    31 October 2022

    Since the start of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, education unions have been pragmatic and quick to respond to the rapid changes brought about by the global health crisis. Thus, it is important for education unions to review the work done to engage with members since the onset of the pandemic...

    Women’s Participation in Education Unions in a Time of Covid-19
    1. Download
  7. News 25 October 2022

    Ghana: Campaign against privatisation and commercialisation of education

    The multi- education union initiative aims to counter privatisation and its harmful impact on education

    Taking stock of results achieved, member organisations of the Campaign Against the Privatisation and Commercialisation of Education (CAPCOE) have deplored an expanding privatisation of education – especially at basic level – in Ghana’s remote areas, they welcomed the teacher’s higher level of training as well as the reduction of the...

    Ghana: Campaign against privatisation and commercialisation of education
  8. Statements 10 October 2022

    Education unions honour a decade fighting for the rights of girls in and through education and renew their commitment for the future

    Statement on the International Day of the Girl Child - 11 October 2022

    This October 11th, Education International (EI) and its affiliates are proud to join in the global celebration marking the 10th International Day of the Girl Child. Our Time is Now - Our Rights, Our Future is the 2022 United Nations theme for the day, making clear that “girls are ready...

    Education unions honour a decade fighting for the rights of girls in and through education and renew their commitment for the future
  9. News 4 October 2022

    World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference in Education: Unions come together to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples

    The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference in Education (WIPCE) was held this year on the traditional lands of the Kaurna Nation, the original people of the Adelaide plains, at Tarndanya, Adelaide, Australia. WIPCE is the largest and most diverse Indigenous education forum in the world. The EI delegation to the Conference...

    World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference in Education: Unions come together to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples
  10. Worlds of Education 18 September 2022

    Teachers are ready to transform education — it’s time for governments to step up

    David Edwards

    Despite the global crises facing the world, the power and optimism inherent in education will always provide hope for our future. To move forward from this pandemic, and the deepening inequities it exposed, we need to transform education by fully funding public education systems and investing in, supporting, and respecting...

    Teachers are ready to transform education — it’s time for governments to step up
  11. Worlds of Education 30 August 2022

    Recovering indigenous names

    Kantuta Conde

    My name is Kantuta, and I am proud to have an Aymara name that identifies me and represents my community. When it rained, my grandmother told me that children who die without a name go to Tata Granizo. Next to him, children make round ice that falls from the sky...

    Recovering indigenous names
  12. Worlds of Education 23 August 2022

    Adapting to Covid-19: Removing the land from indigenous land-based education

    Sydney Krill

    "That’s what the elders are telling us. Go out on the land. This is a perfect time for people to show youngsters how to build a fire in the morning, how to put up a tent. It’s almost spring. If people can get their families out on the land, that’s...

    Adapting to Covid-19: Removing the land from indigenous land-based education
  13. Worlds of Education 16 August 2022

    Ending Ability Grouping to empower Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand

    Liam Rutherford

    Variously practiced as ‘ability grouping’, ‘streaming’, ‘attainment grouping’, ‘setting’, ‘banding’ or ‘tracking’, pedagogical practices that group students based on perceived ability or prior achievement are longstanding and widespread world over. Research, however, has long shown that this has negative impacts for students, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, ethnic minorities,...

    Ending Ability Grouping to empower Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand
  14. News 12 August 2022

    Indigenous education workers call for a commitment from the region’s governments to education for their peoples

    The call was made in the framework of the IX Regional Conference on Public Education and Indigenous Peoples convened by Education International Latin America. The event was attended by over 150 education workers who travelled to Asuncion, Paraguay from Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, and Paraguay .

    Indigenous education workers call for a commitment from the region’s governments to education for their peoples
  15. News 10 August 2022

    Indigenous educators from across Latin America come together to strengthen public education

    Convened by Education International Latin America (EILA) on August 9-11, the IX Regional Meeting on Public Education and Indigenous Peoples brought together more than 150 educators from all over the region, representing indigenous peoples from Peru, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay who travelled many miles by air...

    Indigenous educators from across Latin America come together to strengthen public education
  16. Worlds of Education 9 August 2022

    Including Indigenous identities and ways of knowing in education and science

    Charitie Ropati

    Engineers and scientists are vital to meeting Sustainable Development Goals but the ecological knowledge that Indigenous people hold when we care for the land are things that are central to the existence of life.

    Including Indigenous identities and ways of knowing in education and science