Ei-iE

Amir Hekmati (28), an Arizona born Iranian-American, accused of spying for the CIA, was sentenced to death earlier this week after an unfair trial without access to consular assistance.

EI’s UK affiliates, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), have deplored the fact that the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, is pushing ahead with plans to have schools taken over by outside sponsors and removed from the control of the...

The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) Executive Committee has endorsed the decision made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to conduct an inquiry into the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls across Canada.

One of EI’s US affiliates, the National Education Association (NEA), has reported on a recent cross-country analysis of teacher pay and pupil performance. The study backs up the idea that better teacher pay leads to higher teaching quality and improved student performance.

The National General Secretary of the Papua New Guinea Teacher's Association (PNGTA), Ugwalubu Mowana, has reacted to the government promise to make education free in the country's schools, by indicating that, without proper funding, it won’t work.

The Africa Women in Education Network (AWEN) held its annual review meeting from 19-20 December 2011 in Accra, Ghana. The meeting, involving members of the AWEN Steering Committee and representatives from the partner unions, UEN/Norway and Lärarförbundet/Sweden, was opened by EI Vice President Irene Adanusa, advising to build on the...

EI will hold the second International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York from 14-15 March 2012. The theme will be: "Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders".

Tens of thousands of teachers including EI’s affiliates the Syndicate of Private School Teachers (TSL) and the League of Public Secondary Teachers (LPESPL), went on strike across Lebanon on December 15. They are threatening to widen the action if the government fails to improve its planned wage increase.

At its 39th meeting held on 30 November-1 December, EI Executive Board adopted new policies related to the crisis and its impact on unions worldwide. These policies are partly represented by resolutions on ‘the Strengthening of International Trade Unionism within the Context of Globalisation,’ and ‘EI Structures.’

The 8th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15-17 December. EI joined the international trade union movement in warning of growing social unrest, rising inequality, and increased hardship if trade liberalisation continues in its current form.

EI has launched a petition in association with LabourStart to condemn the prison sentences imposed on 25 Turkish trade unionists, members of both EI affiliate Egitim Sen and the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK).

On 14 December, France’s Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale (MGEN), a joint founder organisation of the Education and Solidarity Network along with EI, organised a European and international day on the theme of ‘Social Protection: Citizens’ Rights and Duties’.

A common union front in education, to which most EI French affiliates joined, has called for a strike on 15 December. Educators protest against a governmental plan aiming at having teachers’ evaluation and career advancement decided solely by school leaders.

The appeal of Bahrain Teacher Association (BTA) leaders, Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi Abu Dheeb, has been postponed to 19 February, in order to be able to include the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. This postponement will effectively prolong the detention of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the...

The EI Executive Board adopted a proposed Congress Resolution on Respect for Diversity at its 39th meeting, held 30 November-1st December 2011 in Brussels, Belgium.The resolution recognises “integrating respect for diversity in all its forms and the promotion of non-discrimination in education, in education unions and in societies as an...

Fiji’s military regime has refused to allow an Australian and New Zealand trade union delegation to enter the country on 13 December. Representatives of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) were denied permission to enter the country on arrival at...

At its 39th meeting on 1st December, the EI Executive Board selected the Ottawa Convention Centre, in the Canadian capital, as the location for the 7th EI World Congress. The next Congress will be held in July 2015. Traditionally, each EI Congress is held in a different region. For 2015...

As mandated by the 2011 World Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa, the EI Executive Board, at its 39th meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, from 30 November-1 December, considered the resolutions submitted for Congress but not dealt with at Congress due to insufficient time, and adopted a proposed Congress...