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.
Firmly standing behind Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, Education International reiterates the need for affiliates to join in the call for his immediate release from jail.
Education International demands Iranian academic’s immediate release
Political tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo have resulted in school closures in the country, as teachers and parents are worried for pupils' safety.
DRC: education once again suffers the consequences of political turmoil
Together with Education International Deputy General Secretary David Edwards, Colombian academic Miguel Ángel Beltrán discusses challenges to the implementation of human and trade union rights in his country.
Colombian academic speaks about armed conflict and human rights
On the heels of International Human Rights Day, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ education programme Speak Truth to Power has launched a free online course for Spanish speakers.
Human rights education goes beyond physical and linguistic borders
For the first time ever, education trade unions in Niger have called for a national strike to demand the integration of contract teachers into the civil service, and the payment of wage arrears.
Niger: united teachers demand that government fulfil its promises
To celebrate International Human Rights Day, EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen says we must look to the instruments of the United Nations and its agencies that enshrine those rights in international law and culture.
Education, Human Rights, and Tolerance
Education International has released an urgent action appeal for Turkey asking for worldwide action and financial solidarity with E?itim-Sen and the education community in this country.
Speak up for Turkish educators now!
Miguel Angel Beltrán, a prominent academic invited to deliver a keynote on free speech at Education International’s higher education conference in Ghana had to once again overcome political discrimination in order to reach his destination.
Voyage to international conference becomes an odyssey for Colombian academic
After a hard-fought and divisive judicial battle, British Columbia’s educators are celebrating a Supreme Court decision that reaffirms collective bargaining rights and opens the door to the hiring of hundreds of teachers.
Canada: teachers are victorious as bargaining rights acknowledged by Supreme Court
Rosana Palacios, President of the National Union of Educators (UNE), has been threatened with criminal prosecution and prohibited from speaking in the name of her union.
Ecuador: Brutal persecution of teacher unionists is worsening
Education International calls on its members to take action and protest against the six-year jail sentence imposed on Mr. Esmail Abdi, a leader of the Tehran Teacher Trade Association. The sentence was announced on 7 October by Branch 36 of the Appeal Court of Tehran.
Freedom for Iranian teacher union leader Esmail Abdi
Education International has called on its member organisations to take swift action to firmly protest the unwarranted six-year jail sentence imposed on Esmail Abdi, a leader of the Tehran Teacher Trade Association.
Iran: global campaign launched to free teacher union leader
This week concludes with good news for teacher unions in Kenya, as Education International affiliates KNUT and KUPPET signed a historic collective bargaining agreement, which includes a significant salary boost.
Kenya: a new salary deal for all teachers
Education International has warmly welcomed the announcement that the 2016 Edward O’Brien Award for Human Rights Education is awarded to Human Rights Education Associates’ Founder, and former Education International’s research coordinator, Felisa Tibbitts.
Former member of EI staff receives top USA human rights award
Education International (EI) joins with the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education in welcoming the rescue of 21 kidnapped Chibok girls while urging the focus to return to the 200 still missing.
Nigeria: bittersweet news as 21 kidnapped Chibok girls are released
The Global Labour University invites trade unionists from all over the world to register for its ENGAGE Programme with the aim of strengthening the intellectual and strategic capacity of workers and their organisations.
The time is now to strengthen global trade unionism
The German education union GEW has placed special focus on the relationship between integration and democracy after hosting its national congress under the slogan “One for all – an inclusive school for democracy.”
Germany: teachers’ union calls for inclusive school policies and systems
With a young democracy as its backdrop, the Myanmar Teachers Federation continues to build its ranks across the country with the help of Education International and its affiliates’ experience one year after its creation.
Myanmar: teachers work from the ground up to strengthen union