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.
The Education Minister and the teachers organisations of Honduras should as soon as possible resume discussions on the future of the Honduran public school system. Their dialogue should be based on mutual respect and should aim at improving quality education for all children. This was the message conveyed by EI...
Education Minister and Teachers Organisations of Honduras must resume dialogue
EI has welcomed the release on bail of 22 trade unionists, after 289 days in jail. Among the released are Mehmet Bozgeyik and Sakine Eren Y?lmaz, respectively General Secretary and Women’s Secretary of Egitim Sen, EI’s national affiliate.
Turkey: High court releases trade unionists
Two years have passed since the arrest of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the Bahrain Teachers’ Association leader, and his agony continues.
Bahrain: Call for Mahdi Abu Dheeb's release on the second anniversary of his imprisonment
The United Nations Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, Education International and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are demanding of the authorities in Pakistan that they enable girls to go to schools which are safe and secure.
Pakistan: We stand with the children and teachers!
Education International will organize a memorial for the teachers who have been murdered in Pakistan recently. EI will also establish a girls’ scholarship fund to promote girls’ education and to support teachers and students victimised because of their support for girls schooling.
Pakistan: Remembering murdered teachers
A head teacher was murdered this morning in Pakistan - and three school children are fighting for their lives with another three badly injured - after the latest attack on a school and on the right of girls to education.
Pakistan: Attacks on schools and teachers now occurring daily
In a statement issued today, the UN Secretary-General calls on the international community to prevent violations of the right to education, prompted by the heinous killing of Shahnaz Nazli, in Peschawar, Pakistan.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon condemns killing of woman teacher in Pakistan
Shahnaz Nazli, a 41 year old female teacher at a girls’ school near the town of Jamrud in Peschawar, Pakistan, was shot for wanting to teach girls, on Tuesday March 26th as she walked to school. Gunmen opened fire, when Ms Nazli was just 200 metres from the school, and...
EI condemns shooting of Pakistani woman teacher
On 7 March, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten was placed in handcuffs and arrested along with 18 other activists during a protest against the closure of 29 public schools in Philadelphia which, according to Mayor Nutter and the School Reform Commission, are poorly performing schools.
USA: Teacher leader arrested
The Gambia Teachers’ Union (GTU) celebrated its 76th anniversary on 16 February.The theme of the celebration was “Enhanced Synergy: an Inevitable Necessity for our Unity”.
The Gambia: educators’ union celebrates 76th anniversary
The Syndicat National des Agents de la Formation et de l’Education du Niger(SYNAFEN), one of EI’s national affiliates, has called on the Government to respect the country’s Constitution and urged that dialogue and not force be used to resolve conflict. It made its demands in a Statement published after it...
Niger: Teachers union calls on government to negotiate in good faith
The Syndicat national de l'enseignement-Fédération démocratique du travail (SNE-FDT) of Morocco, held its 10th Congress from 22-24 February in Marrakech. The congress theme was “All in defence of public education, the teaching profession, trade union rights and democratic freedoms”.
Morocco: Congress debates challenges of public education
EI strongly condemns the police raids that have targeted members and leaders of the public sector confederation, KESK, early in the morning on Tuesday, 19 February.
Turkey: More than 140 trade unionists arrested
In a well-received speech delivered at the World Bank, EI Vice-President Dennis van Roekel from the National Education Association/USA has raised some important issues about the Bank’s approach to education sector reform, how that approach impacts on teachers, misses important opportunities for educational improvement and equity ... and where the...
Strong teacher unions are good partners in serious reform
The Syndicat national unitaire des instituteurs professeurs des écoles et PEGC - a national school teachers’ trade union (SNUipp-FSU), one of EI's national affiliates, announced that almost six teachers in 10 (58 per cent) went on strike on 12 February to demand a successful reform of school timetables for all...
France: primary school teachers strike for reform
EI strongly condemns the killing of Chokri Belaïd, a secular Tunisian political leader. In December 2012, the headquarters of the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) union federation were attacked, and there were a series of violent repressions of demonstrations in Tunis and across the country.
EI condemns murder of Tunisian political leader
In December 1955, in Montgomery, USA, a black seamstress refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger, even though this was required by regulations. Her name was Rosa Parks, and she has been called ‘the mother of the freedom movement’. February 4 is the 100th...
EI cherishes centenary of human rights activist
The Asociación Nacional de Educadores (ANDE), an EI affiliate, has received authorisation to change its legal status from “association” to “trade union” by a bill approved by the Costa Rica Parliament. This initiative will coincide with the organisation’s 70th anniversary.
Costa Rica: ANDE on the road to trade union status