Ei-iE

On 24- 25 October, the European Council concluded that the European Structural Investment Funds (ESF) for 2014 -2020 should be used in part for ICT education and training. EU Heads of State and Government decided that Europe must boost digital, data-driven innovation as part of its growth strategy.

The ICT&ESL Final Conference ‘Teacher Trade Unions Preventing Early School Leaving through the Use of Information and Communication Technology in Education’,will be held in Bratislava on 28-29 November 2013.

The Final conference of the ETUCE project: “The development of the teaching profession in times of the economic crisis as a key task for social partners in education. Finding joint strategies to tighten the links between education and the labour market.” is to be held in Berlin on 13-14 November...

On Wednesday, 6th November 2013, more than 10,000 Romanian teachers affiliated with FSLE (ETUCE MO) marched through Bucharest to demand better wages and working conditions and an end to political interference in education. Teachers whistled, held banners and yelled: “Solidarity!”, “Without education, any nation would die!”.

Ten thousand teachers affiliated to the Fédération des syndicats libres de l’enseignement (FSLE), one of EI’s national affiliates, marched through Bucharest on 6 November. They were demanding better wages and working conditions and an end to political interference in education.

The President OLME, one of EI’s Greek affiliates, Kotsifakis Themistoklis, met the Executive Board of the Argentinian teachers’ union CTERA in October. The delegation was led by Stella Maldonado, CTERA’s General Secretary and a member of EI’s Executive Board.

The National Autonomous Union of Secondary School Teachers (SNAES), a member of the Federation of Education and Research Unions (FESER) affiliated to EI, called attention to the need for quality teachers.

EI has branded as a “bad decision” Japan’s move to introduce an income cap for its tuition-free programme for public high schools during the 2014 fiscal year. This “will destroy an education policy that has taken root after three years and is supported by parents and educators,” said EI’s Chief...

EI and its national affiliates, the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA), the Nepal Teachers' Association (NTA), and the Sansthagat Vidyalaya Schickshak Union Nepal (ISTU), co-organised a joint workshop on trade union rights and gender issues in trade unions, education and society in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 22-24 October. Discussions were held...

EI’s Latin American Regional Office has taken steps to consolidate trade union work in early childhood education. A meeting of member organisations was convened to analyse, plan and unify trade union action in this field in Santiago, Chile, on 28 and 29 October 2013.

The University and College Union (UCU), one of EI’s national affiliates in the UK, has planned a coordinated strike action on 31 October with UNITE and UNISON to demand fair pay in higher education. Unions are disappointed that employers refused talks to try and avert a walkout, but said they...

The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), one of EI’s national affiliates, will organise the eighth national annual Media Literacy Week on November 4-8 in collaboration with MediaSmarts, a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. This year’s Week will focus on marketing and consumerism.

The Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) has organised a warning strike in front of the National Parliament building in Riga to show their rejection of the government’s budget proposal on the minimum teachers’ salary.

EI's affiliates, the Fijian Teachers’ Association (FTA) and the Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) have started to implement an Action Plan to launch their campaign linked to the EI Unite for Quality Education campaign.

The Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions(FMESU), EI’s national affiliate, has organised a joint meeting under the theme, “I have a message for the government”, at the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions’ level. The meeting was held in conjunction with the one-year EI Unite for Quality Education initiative.

EI's European region, the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), held a special meeting on 23 October in Brussels. Entitled "What is needed to improve the quality of education in Europe?", it brought together trade unionists from across Europe to reflect on challenges ahead and discuss measures to improve...

Overview of the main results

On 24 October, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) was officially deprived of its legal status by the South Korean Govenment. The union had been given a one-month ultimatum to revise its by-laws.