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Last week, Chicago announced the closure of 50 public schools, the majority of them on the South and West sides of the city, in the poorer neighbourhoods. The closures represent about eight per cent of the 681 public schools in Chicago, the third-largest school district in the country.

The High-Level Panel, which was constituted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to advise on a global post-2015 development agenda, has released its report.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) must support quality education in developing countries and ensure teachers’ involvement in local education group plans. It was the message delivered by EI at the Board of Directors meeting, held from 21-22 May in Brussels, Belgium.

EI is calling on educators, students, parents and communities to contribute to The Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The deadline for online contributions by members of the public to the draft Executive Summary of the Global Consultation on Education is 27 May. This is a...

The III Meeting on Public Education and Indigenous Peoples, held from 15-16 May in Cusco, Peru, brought together indigenous education union leaders from several countries. The participants demanded respect for their communities’ rights, a multicultural and multilingual education, and integration based on understanding and equality.

Achieving quality public education for all in Haiti took another step forward recently when EI and some of its affiliates met with EI Haitian member organisations.

EI has strongly condemned attacks on Nigerian schools, teachers and students that have kept 15,000 children away from school since last February. News of the attacks by Boko Haram (BH) extremists came from IRIN, the news service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The attacks on...

On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia on 17 May, EI calls on governments to honour the obligations outlined in the UN Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action (UN VDPA, June 1993). Those obligations have been affirmed as universal, indivisible and consistent with all human rights.

In early May, the All India Primary Teachers' Federation (AIPTF), one of EI’s national affiliates, organised a picket in front of the Indian parliament in New Delhi to raise awareness amongst the public about the need and importance of quality education for all.

EI and its European organisation, the ETUCE, have expressed solidarity with Greek teachers and their union in their call to maintain their right to strike. EI General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen has formally asked the Greek Prime Minister Samaras to uphold the civil rights of teachers in the interests of...

Teachers across Canada have identified a pressing need for more human rights’ tools and resources - especially when teaching younger children. This is according to a national survey by EI’s affiliate, the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR).

From 21-28 April, EI affiliates worldwide celebrated the 2013 Global Action Week (GAW), under the rallying theme: “Every Child Needs a Teacher: Trained Teachers for All!” Affiliates reaffirmed their commitment to quality education and turned GAW into a successful event to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education...

The Syndicat National de l’Education et de la Culture UNTM (SNEC-UNTM), EI’s affiliate in Mali, organised a very successful national workshop on combating child labour from 14 to 26 April in Bamako.

As the International Workers’ Day (May Day) was celebrated worldwide on 1 May, the Secretary General of Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), an EI affiliate, was under house arrest. Six policemen guarded his house without any warrant or court order.

EI national affiliates UNSA Education (National Union of Independent Trade Unions-Education) and SNUipp-FSU (Single National Union of Primary, Middle and Secondary School Teachers) have reacted to French Education Minister Vincent Peillon’s memorandum of agreement containing category-specific measures for primary education personnel.

According to the Global Monitoring Report 2012, the education goals agreed on in 1990 at the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All will not be achieved by 2015. Six goals were agreed to by the international community and that commitment was renewed in the Dakar World Education Forum in...

The Plataforma Estatal por la Escuela Pública (State Platform for Public Education) has called for a strike on 9 May at every level of education in Spain. The platform is made up of EI’s affiliated trade unions - FECCOO, FETE-UGT, STEs and CSI-CSIF - as well as student organisations and...

The Syndicat national des enseignants du second degré de Côte d’Ivoire (SYNESCI) and the Syndicat national des enseignants du primaire public de Côte d'Ivoire (SNEPPCI), both EI national affiliates, have called for an end to the public-sector teachers’ strike in primary and secondary schools. The teachers have been on an...