All teachers and education support personnel have the right to organise and be part of a union that represents and defends their values and interests. However, around the world, education unions are facing serious attacks and operate in increasingly challenging and hostile environments. Revitalising unions, building their power by boosting membership and active participation and maximising impact is the way forward.
EI has joined 15 leading civil society organisations in a call for the human right to education to be recognised and placed at the heart of the post-2015 development framework by member states of the United Nations.
Call for education and other human rights to be at heart of development goals
Two Canadian academics detained in Egypt have embarked on a hunger strike on Monday 16 September to protest the extension of their detention. Dr. Tarek Loubani and John Greyson will drink only fruit juice.
Egypt: Detained Canadian academics on hunger strike
Education International commissioned this study to examine trends in freedom of association and collective bargaining in selected countries throughout the world, both in countries which have been deeply affected by the crisis, such as the USA, Spain and Greece, as well as those countries which have continued to enjoy relatively...
Eurostat published an article on participation of young people in education and the labour market on 12 July 2013. The article explains how youth unemployment in the EU is measured and how youth unemployment rates are affected by the transition of young adults from education to the labour market.
Participation of young people in education and the labour market
CEDEFOP published on 19 June 2013 the publication Labour market outcomes of vocational education in Europe - Evidence from the European Union labour force survey.
New publication: Labour market outcomes of vocational education in Europe - Evidence from the European Union labour force survey
On 25 June 2013 the OECD report Education at a Glance 2013 was launched. This is an annual report analysing the education systems of the 34 OECD member countries, including 21 EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Romania are not part of the OECD and therefore...
EU investment for education and youth employability pays off, OECD report confirms
On Friday, 20th September 2013, ETUCE organizes a workshop on how to prevent early school leaving through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
ETUCE Workshop in Athens on ICT and Early school leaving
The 2013 edition of the Central and East European Roundtable will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 26-28 September 2013.
CEE Round Table 2013 in Baku, Azerbaijan
Mexican teachers have protested en masse after the government pushed through “supplementary” or “secondary” laws aimed at changing the Education Act, in particular aspects related to teachers’ careers.
Mexican teachers protest against reforms
One of EI’s affiliates in Spain, the Federación de Enseñanza de CCOO (FECCOO), has complained to the European Commission about the text of the forthcoming Organic Law for the Improvement of Education Quality (LOMCE).
Spain: Complaint against reforms sent to European Commission
One of EI’s affiliate in the US, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has developed a useful toolkit designed to help the teaching of human rights in the classroom.
US: Human rights comes centre stage for students
Plans are in place for a national teachers’ strike in England before Christmas in a row over adverse changes to teachers’ pay, pensions, working conditions and jobs. This is the next phase of a campaign to protect teachers and defend education, jointly coordinated by the two biggest UK teachers' unions...
UK: Strikes planned in ongoing campaign to protect teachers
EI is urging its member organisations to press the Egyptian authorities to immediately release two Canadian professors who have been detained without charges by the Egyptian police since 17 August.
Protest against detention of Canadian academics in Egypt
Berlin’s educators have gone on strike over better working conditions and an improved salary scale, according to the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW), one of EI’s national affiliates.
Germany: Berlin’s teacher unionists on strike
28 August marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was during this March that American activist Martin Luther King delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, calling for an end to racism in the US.
EI marks anniversary of March to Washington
EI’s national affiliates, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), the South Africa National Professional Teachers’ Organisation (NAPTOSA), and the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie(SAOU), joined by the Professional Educators Union and the National Teachers’ Union, have taken the fight to reinstate a collective agreement to court. The agreement, signed between teacher unions...
South Africa: unions bring Department of Basic Education to court
EI organised a workshop enabling representatives of 16 member organisations in the Pacific to campaign for the promotion of trade union rights in the region. The workshop was hosted in Fiji on 19-22 August with the support of the Workers Group of the International Labour Organisation (ILO-ACTRAV).
Teacher unions in the Pacific learn more about their rights
An EI delegation is attending regional meetings on labour standards in Fiji. EI representatives are holding talks with teachers' representatives from the Fijian Teachers' Association and the Fiji Teacher Union who deplored the clampdown on union rights since the 2006 coup.
Fiji: Exposing the clampdown on union rights