The Spring ETUCE Committee 2014
On 14-15 April 2014, the ETUCE Committee convened to debate on the major challenges and issues currently at stake in the education sector in Europe. Bringing the future priorities for teacher unions in Europe into focus, the Committee members decided that the ETUCE Special conference on 25-26 November 2014 in Vienna will have the theme “The Future of the Teaching Profession”.
Against this background, the presentation by Ricardo Ferreira from DG Education and Culture on the European Commission’s Opening Up Education communication, which seeks to prize open education resources for innovative teaching approaches, triggered a passionate discussion in favour of quality education, teacher training and working conditions. This cumulated into clear support for the ETUCE statement regarding the EU-US Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations and a call of actions to national teacher unions to request that education be excluded from this transatlantic agreement.
Mr. Christian Welz from EUROFOUND gave a shocking insight into the change caused by the crisis and the EU’s Economic Governance Regime on Wage Setting Mechanisms. In the wake, the committee members endorsed the various actions organised in the frame of the EI/ETUCE campaign “ Unite for Education – Better Quality Education for a better world”, e.g. the pledge request towards candidates running for the European Parliament elections.
With regards to actions of solidarity, the ETUCE Committee decided to financially support its Ukrainian member organisation STESU. More details on this decision are to follow.
The Committee also adopted the recommendations on the promotion of healthy and safe working conditions in education in times of the economic crisis and the guidelines on how to prevent early school leaving through the use of ICT in education.
Resulting from the Status of Women Committee, the ETUCE Committee welcomed the organisation of three side-workshops on higher education, equal opportunities and the crisis impact on education, accompanied by an exhibition on teacher unions’ actions in the frame of the Unite for Quality Education campaign. In particular, the ETUCE Committee congratulated the chair of the Status of Women Committee, Gitta Franke-Zöllmer, for her order of merit, the Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse, which was bestowed upon her by the Federal Republic of Germany for her committed work on gender equality in education.