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EI and its affiliate, Colegio de Profesores, have welcomed the successful rescue of 33 miners in Copiapó, Chile, and called on authorities to guarantee workers’ rights to health and safety in the workplace.

The EI Pan-European Higher Education and Research Standing Committee (HERSC) met in Leuven, Belgium, from 14-15 October to discuss the challenges confronting the sector in the European region.

In the face of cuts to public services, leaders of trade unions, governments and civil society have made the unprecedented joint commitment to work together.

At the final event of the joint project with the European Students’ Union currently taking place in Leuven, Belgium, Education International launched a toolkit for staff and students to promote the concept of student-centred learning.

EI has sent a message of solidarity to the World March of Women taking place in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is set to close its third international action from 14 to 17 October, 2010.

In a rousing call to action, Greenpeace’s Kumi Naidoo has told 400 delegates at the Quality Public Services - Action Now! Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to challenge the threat to vital public services with “peace, principles and courage”.

“There is no work-life harmony; there is only work-life integration – you have to live as you work.” This joke set the tone for the Young Workers’ Forum held on 11 October, leading into the Quality Public Services, Action Now! Conference.

“Academics and students are ready to create a stimulating learning environment,” says EI Deputy General Secretary, Monique Fouilhoux, ”but are higher education institutions ready to provide the necessary support?”

With the overthrow of President Zelaya in Honduras still a fresh memory, EI has condemned the attempted coup in Ecuador, and expressed its commitment to defending the principle of democratically elected governments in all regions.

Educators from across Africa are invited to attend the seventh Education International (EI) Africa Region Conference, to take place in November, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

EI is concerned to learn from Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers (ASSERT) that elements of the Philippine armed forces used aggressive tactics against a peaceful demonstration by teachers on World Teachers’ Day.

American public education is facing attack on a scale without precedent. A new film favouring the privatisation campaign, which serves the interests of markets over children’s fundamental right to a quality education, has been released.

As Serbia’s LGBT community gets set to march, for the first time since 2001, at Belgrade Pride on 10 October, EI declares its support and solidarity for the event, and calls on the authorities to guarantee organisers and participants’ safety.

7 October is the World Day for Decent Work – a day to remember the precarious situation of millions of women around the globe, and to call for decent work and decent lives for women.

Trade unions across the world are mobilising on 7 October to tackle the global economic and employment crisis and demand fundamental reform of the world economy.

Despite world leaders committing to achieve universal primary education by 2015, as part of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Summit in 2000, this goal remains unfulfilled with limited progress and time running out.

On 5 October, millions of teachers and education workers will be joined by children, young people and parents across the globe to celebrate World Teachers’ Day.

The next summit of G20 leaders will be held in Seoul from 11-12 November. To make education a priority, EI is calling on its member organisations to actively campaign to place education higher on the G20 agenda.