Education International continues to fight the crisis of education around the world

Education International is the voice of teachers and education workers around the world.

Through 383 member organisations, they represent more than 32 million teachers and education support personnel in 178 countries and territories.

Education International stands with Ukraine: Union leaders in Kyiv meet colleagues and show solidarity

Education International delegation visited Ukraine’s capital to deliver a strong message of solidarity and meet with colleagues from the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine (TUESWU), EI member organisation in the country. The delegation also met with the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Mayor of Kyiv, as well as representatives of the Trade Union Federation of Ukraine, UNICEF, and UNESCO.

The union also shared its plans for the end of the war, including using the trade union camp to provide much needed psychological assistance for children and teachers affected by the war.

Teachers praised for driving normalcy and resilience

Whilst some teachers went to fight on the frontlines, others stayed behind and continued to work under challenging circumstances in support of their students. They teach from basements and bomb shelters to keep education going and provide children and parents with a sense of normalcy and resilience.

Only schools with shelters are open for full-time education. The schools that do not have bomb shelters operate online.

You can listen first-hand to educators in this short video:

EI’s 9th World Congress: Beyond the pandemic, educators and their unions continue to make a difference worldwide

Education International (EI) General Secretary, David Edwards presented his Progress Report at the 9th EI World Congress, the first-ever World Congress held online:

“When I last stood before you to mark our progress together in 2019, it would have been impossible to even imagine the world of today. Our profession has changed, the world has changed. The pandemic that infected the globe and killed up to 20 million also infected every aspect of our work,” Edwards noted.

Edwards reported on the EI delegation that visited Ukraine, and the work of solidarity and support of colleagues there in the midst of a terrible war. He also cited EI’s solidarity with members in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus, Eswatini, Uganda, Israel, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

At Education International’s urging, Edwards also said, the UN announced creation of a High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession to examine the role of teachers and the supports we need to do our work, including addressing the global teacher shortage and elevating teacher professionalism. For the first time, there is high-level agreement that education is an investment, and the key component of this investment is in teachers, he stressed.

You can watch Edwards’ Progress Report Introduction here: