Ei-iE

Leading the profession

Teachers and education support personnel know what works in education. They must be recognised and empowered to deliver on the promise of quality education for all.

At the classroom level, academic freedom and professional autonomy are prerequisites for quality teaching and learning. As professionals, teachers must be afforded the space and trust to make the best possible decisions for their students.

Beyond the classroom, education policy must be informed by the vast experience and insights only education professionals can provide. We advocate for the involvement of teachers, education support personnel and their representative organisations in all decision-making in education and work towards the expansion of sectoral policy dialogue at all levels and in all countries.

Our work in this area

  1. Worlds of Education 3 October 2022

    Teachers are the beating heart of education

    David Edwards

    This is a crucial moment. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on education. At the height of the pandemic, 1.6 billion students were out of school. Millions are still not in their classrooms, others are struggling with trauma and loss. As the economic crisis, the climate emergency, and wars intensify...

    Teachers are the beating heart of education
  2. News 29 September 2022

    World Teachers’ Day 2022: We transform education

    On September 19 world leaders met at the United Nations and committed to transforming education everywhere. Teachers are at the heart of this transformation; they must be trusted and supported to make quality public education a reality for all students.

    World Teachers’ Day 2022: We transform education
  3. News 27 September 2022

    India: Teachers demand the reinstatement of their old pension scheme under union management

    The All India Primary Teachers’ Federation (AIPTF) has taken a strong stand defending teachers and government employees fighting for their postretirement benefits, especially pensions, so that they can lead decent lives. Answering its call, union members and teachers protested in large numbers in over 20 Indian provinces on September 20th...

    India: Teachers demand the reinstatement of their old pension scheme under union management
  4. News 22 September 2022

    Iraq: Call for increased financial means for quality public education as new academic year starts

    Holding its 41st meeting in the presence of the Kurdistan’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Aram Qadr, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) Executive Council focused on the start of the new academic year and took stock of activities undertaken since they last met. They also called on...

    Iraq: Call for increased financial means for quality public education as new academic year starts
  6. News 16 September 2022

    Gabon: a favourable start to the 2022 academic year thanks to social dialogue

    Launching its trade union activities at the start of the new school year, national education union, SENA (Syndicat de l’Education Nationale) welcomed the progress achieved last year through social dialogue and called on the government to continue with the talks in order to resolve the issues raised by the union...

    Gabon: a favourable start to the 2022 academic year thanks to social dialogue
  7. Worlds of Education 8 September 2022

    The unheard impact: technology and the teaching profession

    Lainie Keper

    Education International (EI) recently hosted a consultation event to provide feedback into the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report on technology and education.

    The unheard impact: technology and the teaching profession
  8. News 5 September 2022

    Netherlands: Successful fight to close pay gap between primary and secondary teachers

    Through a continuous movement of industrial action embracing individual teachers’ demands, the Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb) has been able to win public support and obtain greater investment in public education and teachers from the new government. This led to a significant reduction of the pay gap between primary and secondary teachers.

    Netherlands: Successful fight to close pay gap between primary and secondary teachers
  10. Worlds of Education 16 August 2022

    Ending Ability Grouping to empower Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand

    Liam Rutherford

    Variously practiced as ‘ability grouping’, ‘streaming’, ‘attainment grouping’, ‘setting’, ‘banding’ or ‘tracking’, pedagogical practices that group students based on perceived ability or prior achievement are longstanding and widespread world over. Research, however, has long shown that this has negative impacts for students, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, ethnic minorities,...

    Ending Ability Grouping to empower Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand
  11. News 9 August 2022

    Mali: Alarming situation in schools under attack from armed groups

    More than 1,800 schools in Mali have closed following attacks or direct threats from armed groups. These groups kidnap teachers, set fire to schools and school materials, and start shooting during lessons. Moustapha Guitteye, General Secretary of the Syndicat National de l’Éducation et la Culture (SNEC), recently went to the...

    Mali: Alarming situation in schools under attack from armed groups
  12. News 5 August 2022

    Ghana: unions win improved living conditions for public service workers

    The Agreement on a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) concluded on 14 July between the Government of Ghana and workers’ unions and associations within the public sector in this country gives all public sector employees increased remuneration.

    Ghana: unions win improved living conditions for public service workers
  14. News 2 August 2022

    Outstanding education unionists receive the Kounka Damianova Award

    The Kounka Damianova Award was given to Borka Visnic of the Teachers Union of Serbia (TUS) and Dorota Obidniak of the Polish Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego (ZNP) during the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) Special conference held from 5-6 July, in Liège, Belgium.

    Outstanding education unionists receive the Kounka Damianova Award
  15. News 2 August 2022

    Hungary: teachers’ unions win court case on strike

    The Syndicat des Enseignants de Hongrie (PSZ-SEH) and the Teachers' Democratic Union of Hungary (PDSZ), both affiliated to Education International, have had the strike that they organised in January 2022 for a pay raise for teachers and education workers recognised as legal by the National Supreme Court.

    Hungary: teachers’ unions win court case on strike
  16. Take action! 19 July 2022

    Teachers around the world mobilise to transform education. Join us!

    1.6 billion students were out of school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions are still struggling with trauma and learning loss. Teachers and education workers have done the impossible to support their students and school communities in this time of crisis. But the crushing workloads, poor pay, and...

    Teachers around the world mobilise to transform education. Join us!
  17. News 8 July 2022

    European educators reaffirm their commitment to enhance the status of the teaching profession for inclusive, peaceful, democratic and sustainable societies

    Confronted with turbulent times for teachers, educational staff and their trade unions, delegates at the Special Conference of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), the European region of Education International (EI), took a pro-active stand and reasserted their will to mobilise and organise for quality public education, for...

    European educators reaffirm their commitment to enhance the status of the teaching profession for inclusive, peaceful, democratic and sustainable societies
  18. News 1 July 2022

    European trade unionists mobilise for quality public education, for the benefit of students, and improved status for teachers and education personnel

    The Special Conference of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), the European region of Education International, to be held from 5-6 July, in Liège, Belgium, will provide an excellent opportunity for ETUCE affiliates’ representatives to meet in person again and strengthen the bonds of solidarity between teachers and...

    European trade unionists mobilise for quality public education, for the benefit of students, and improved status for teachers and education personnel