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At the Seventh Biennial Education international (EI) Arab Cross-Country Regional Structure (ACCRS) Conference, top education unionists highlighted the need to develop partnerships, to show solidarity with Palestinian colleagues and people, support educator remuneration in crisis contexts, and expand the Go Public! Fund Education campaign for funding of public education systems.

Opening the meeting on April 8th, ACCRS Committee President Manal Hdaife condemned the attacks against the education community in the region and issued a call for solidarity for peace and for education: “If they touch one of us, they touch all of us. Together, we win. In the midst of darkness, there is a glimmer of hope: our meeting says that we will not despair, we must stand together with teachers who continue to do their job despite dire conditions. We must fight for a better future for our children, our families, and humanity.”

Khalaf Zanati, President of the Egyptian Teachers’ Syndicate, shared that his union, with the national Ministry of Education, seeks to develop materials for peace education. He said that Egypt welcomes refugees from neighbouring countries in its schools and universities. “We need to consider education institutions as places of security and safety. We need to increase funding of education to rebuild," he said.

Also welcoming participants gathered in Cairo, Egypt’s Minister of Education Dr. Reda Hegazy noted that the conference was coming at a critical time to discuss education in crisis and how to overcome difficulties in terms of human and development issues. “Too many children are deprived of the simple right to education. We need to raise funding We need to build peace and democracy. And children are the way to build sustainable peace.”

He also reported that “millions of children are paying a price with their education, crossing frontiers, with a lack of teachers, and many of them have a post-traumatic impact, because what they witnessed affects their concentration.”

Egypt has always been a welcoming hub in the regional arena, opened its arms to incoming children to give them education, enlisting them in the different education levels, and treating them like the Egyptian students, he said. “This is an investment in peace, in building a better future, that goes beyond borders.”

In his opening remarks, Mugwena Maluleke, EI President reiterated that “as a movement, we stand for the universal right to education. We know that quality education for all is only possible through fully funded and inclusive public education systems that are free for all students and that are powered by a strong teaching profession. This is why education unions from around the world have joined forces to call on all governments to Go Public! and Fund Education. Our global campaign, launched only two years ago, and endorsed by our world congress, is now active in all our EI regions. It is an urgent call for governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and public good, and to invest in teachers, the key to quality education.”

He also urged education unionists “to consider the Recommendations of the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, convened by the UN Secretary General in response to the global teacher shortage. These recommendations call for good teacher salaries at different levels of education and for gender pay equity. To address the teacher shortage in the sector, the recommendations call on governments to develop comprehensive and holistic policies on the teaching profession. These policies must be created in collaboration with teaching personnel and the unions which represent them.”

He insisted that three of these recommendations focus on directly supporting teachers in emergencies, with Recommendation 54 calling for the international community to establish a Global Fund for Teachers’ Salaries in crisis contexts.

The EI leader went on stressing that “our call for quality public education is inseparable from our call for peace. We cannot have one without the other. While global military expenditure reaches record highs —financed through our hard-earned taxes— public education systems in conflict zones are collapsing. Teachers go unpaid, infrastructure is destroyed, and children are deprived of their right to education.”

Teachers are uniquely placed to foster the critical thinking and compassion needed to challenge oppression and inequality, he also said.

Talking about Palestine, he reaffirmed that, “as Education International, we have always called for peace on all sides. We continue that call.” Maluleke criticized the unrelenting attacks on Palestine by the Netanyahu government, and restated Education International's solidarity with the Palestinian people, lamenting the destruction of schools and entire communities.

“We are the agents of transformation; we are the wisdom workers for peace. No matter the challenges, I want each of you to remember that you are not alone in this fight. Together, working across borders, we have the strength to challenge injustice, to fight for the rights of educators and students, and to rebuild public education as a foundation for peace, progress, and equity,” he concluded.

The Education Cannot Wait (ECW) CEO Yasmine Sherif addressed the conference emphasizing the plight of students impacted by violent conflict around the world: “four million children and adolescents are suffering from a lack of funding and access to quality education. We want to reach those left behind.”

Teacher remuneration during emergencies

Participants also heard presentations on two case studies regarding teacher salary in emergency contexts, in Lebanon and in Palestine.

Moderating the panel discussion, EI General Secretary David Edwards said: “We are pushing for a Teachers in Emergency Fund. You cannot have education without our profession, and children have no hope for a better future for their communities. Despite wars, conflicts, and natural disasters, teachers do not run from crisis, they run to their students, even when they don’t receive their paycheck, which is unjust and illegal. This is a top priority for EI, and we need to make it a priority worldwide. We must support the work of colleagues and ensure teachers receive salaries in full and on time.”

He also explained that these country reports will inform EI advocacy to provide education in emergency contexts: “The data and stories we are collecting will help us make a strong case to put teachers at the centre. For the first time, we have a consensus that we need to support teachers. All stakeholders acknowledge that that we cannot have education if we do not support teachers, pay teachers, especially those teaching students in crisis areas. The momentum is on our side.”

He added: “People say that AI can replace teachers, but I've never seen a chatbox protect a student from a bomb, I've never seen a chatbox take from their own bag to share food with a student. AI does not fight for labor rights, AI does not fight for human rights, but we do and we will.”

We need to address their issues with a global audience, governments, donors, everyone, Edwards also said, agreeing that unions in this region are answering the call and playing a great role in that fight for educators.

During another session on Sharing Best Practices, Dr Amjad Barham, Minister of Education of Palestine, reported on efforts made by his governments to support teachers and students to keep education running in the conflict areas of Gaza and the West Bank.

Trade unionists from Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria also explained how their unions struggle, in particular to ensure transport and access for teachers to their workplaces and to provide education workers and students with psycho-social support.

Aligning with the Education International's Global Strategic Plan

As part of the conference, EI General Secretary Edwards also presented the Global Strategic Plan, adopted by the EI Executive Board: "We organize to grow and renew an inclusive, representative union movement equipped to impactfully defend and advance: The status and well-being of our profession (Profession); Quality public education for all (Public Education); Human and trade union rights, gender and social justice (People); And peace, democracy, and climate justice (Planet).”

Education unions in EI ACCRS countries will now adapt and adjust their Strategic Plan to the EI Global one.

EI ACCRS Regional Coordinator Dalila El Barhmi also presented the subregional activity report, highlighting the initiatives in the region.

Go Public and Fund Education in EI's ACCRS countries

Presenting on the EI Go Public! Fund Education campaign and the UN Recommendations on the teaching profession, the campaign manager, Angelo Gavrielatos stated that: "this flagship campaign of EI seeks to expand the values and true meaning of the EI Strategic Plan. Go Public! puts the profession at the heart of the campaign. Without good supply of well-supported, well-prepared teachers, nothing can work in education.”

Go Public! is a much needed and urgent call for governments, along with international financial institutions, to invest in teachers and invest in education, he noted, saying: “It is urgent, because amongst many crises we are facing in education, the biggest one in teacher shortage. We need 44 million more teachers by the end of this decade if we are to achieve quality public basic, primary and secondary education. We need 4,3 million more teachers in ACCRS countries. In Egypt, there is a projected shortage of 480,000 teachers. Teachers are burning out and children are missing out.”

He added that the shortage is driven by under-investment, resulting in overworked, underpaid and undervalued teachers: “We see a raise of resignation rates and exit rates of early career teachers is higher than it has ever been and fewer and fewer people are entering the profession.”

“The campaign is now running in Lebanon, Iraq and Morocco, and it is our intention to expand the campaign in the Arab region and around the globe, working shoulder to shoulder with unions and education stakeholders. We must act. No more excuses: governments must invest in teachers and in public education,” Gavrielatos concluded.

Trade union representatives also presented on country cases in Morocco, Iraq and Lebanon.

Strengthening partnerships

During the panel on Strengthening Partnerships, the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Chief of Strategic Partnerships Nasser Faqih reminded that his organization brings medical aide, food aid, as well as education aid during conflicts since 1997.

“We want to be a non bureaucratic fund to support members on the ground,” he said.

For the representative of the UNESCO Office in Beirut Office (Lebanon), “UNESCO has been a strategic partner to increase the status of teachers globally, building strategic partnerships with unions, governments and education stakeholders.”

At global level, UNESCO is also building strategic partnerships with the private sector to advance the cause of teachers, he noted.

He also said that policy-dialogue at country level is important to advance the quality of teacher policies, and to ensure that policy advances are answering the needs of teachers.

Implementing the United Nations' Recommendations

In the session focusing on the effective Implementation of the UN Recommendations with key partners, the Director of the EI Africa office, Dennis Sinyolo, insisted that the UN Recommendations on the teaching profession “seek to elevate the teaching profession and address the serious teacher shortage.”

He also emphasized that the African Union adopted a new Continental Education Strategy for Africa, a very important tool which will drive education in Africa from 2026 to 2035. Sinyolo added that EI and education unions need to build alliances to reach our goals, advance the recommendations.

Taking the floor, April Golden of the Global partnership for Education (GPE) firstly reminded participants that EI seats on the GPE Board of Directors and on the GPE Policy, Impact and Learning Committee.

She also explained that “as a fund, GPE provides grants and funding to 90 low and middle income countries. As a partnership, we bring partners together and support inclusive Local Education Groups (LEGs) for education policy dialogue. LEGs enable the development and implementation of education plans.”

She was adamant that teachers should be part of LEGs, contributing to the GPE processes, and called on EI member organizations to join these groups in their countries.

She also mentioned that GPE has operating principles for support in fragile and conflict affected contexts, “having children’s best interests at heart, protecting the education system, and applying humanitarian principles.”

With the GPE replenishment in 2026, she said, “it is important for us to put pressure on governments to commit to increasing domestic funding of education.”

The seventh Biennial EI ACCRS Conference underscored the critical need for solidarity, partnerships, and increased funding to support educators in crisis contexts. The discussions highlighted the role of teachers in emergencies, and the inseparable link between quality public education and peace. The call to action is clear: governments must prioritize education funding, support teachers, and ensure that every child has access to quality education, regardless of their circumstances.