Ei-iE

While it is a matter for rejoicing that education has become a major subject of the debates during the current electoral campaign in Cambodia, education trade unionists have particularly underlined the financial shortcomings of the national school systems, which the public authorities have to remedy.

Public education is a social right that must be guaranteed, maintained and financed by the government, and it is essential to building equality. This is the overarching message of the educators who gathered at the Regional Meeting of Education International Latin America (EILA) in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Education International and partners have reasserted the need for organisations from the water, housing, education and health sectors to take coordinated action on public private partnerships.

Under the banner of "We care. We fight. We show up. We vote,” more than 3 000 educators, health professionals and public employees came together for the biannual convention of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

At its General Assembly, the Education and Solidarity Network renewed its commitment to remain a trusted, expanding and innovative network promoting health and well-being in educational settings the world over.

If universal, public, free education was one of the greatest achievements of the Welfare State, it is also one of the few public sectors that up until now has continued to resist commercialisation and liberalisation.

On the occasion of the signature of the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, Education International firmly supports its European and Japanese members, reasserting that education must be explicitly carved out of such international trade agreements.

The opening of a new headquarters for its branch in the centre of the Iraqi Chamchamal region represents a golden opportunity for the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union to highlight the importance of providing quality education for all in the country and renew its commitment to ensure it.

The Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores em Educação has been successful in pushing back a bill in the Brazilian Parliament that would prevent the expression of any political, ideological, or partisan ideas in classrooms.

Indonesian education unionists have welcomed the announcement made by the national government during a Public Discussion on National Education to hire 100,000 teachers in 2018 in an effort to combat the teacher shortage in the country.

Thousands of nurses, primary school teachers and principals are calling on New Zealand’s public authorities to ensure decent pay for educators, as well as guaranteeing the future of quality public education, and are prepared to walk off the job.

Education International supports its affiliate, the Federación Colombiana de Educadores, in denouncing and firmly condemning assassinations and threats targeting Colombian educators, trade unionists, and social leaders.

The European Parliament’s decision to submit the reform of the copyright legislation in the European Union to a full public debate in plenary in September gives civil society and education unions a chance to push for the desired open, broad and flexible EU copyright educational exception.

Organised as part of Education International’s Global Response against the commercialisation and privatisation in and of Education, the Convention on Privatisation of Education and Right to Education in Nepal helped further raise awareness and disseminate international research on education privatisation in the country.

EI General Secretary, David Edwards addressed the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association (NEA), the top decision-making body for the more than 3-million member union, the largest in the United States.

The Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) is pushing for a structural review of the 2013 education reforms introduced by outgoing president Enrique Peña Nieto.

The effects of commercialisation and privatisation have a serious impact on students, communities and public education systems. We use research as a guide to inform the campaign and create an accurate picture of trends, tendencies and outcomes.

Several Education International affiliates in Africa reaffirmed their commitment to put an end to school-related gender-based violence during a peer learning training workshop.