At a press conference in New Delhi, India, today, leaders of EI affiliates from Asia-Pacific, joined by EI President Susan Hopgood and Indian singer-songwriter Shankar Sahney, debated what Quality Education meant for the region.
Despite of the city being in near-lockdown because of an official visit to India by Chinese President Xi Jinping, fourty journalists took the opportunity to discuss with the EI President, trade union leaders of EI affiliates from India and Malaysia, as well as with local music star Shankar Sahney, how quality education could become a reality in the region.
"For Education International, whose affiliates have been campaigning for a year now for a better quality education for a better world, the message is clear," said EI President Susan Hopgood. "There are three pillars to a publicily provided, inclusive and empowering quality education: Quality teaching, quality tools and quality environments."
This message, which has been at the heart of EI's year-long campaign, and of the advocacy efforts of the 30 million union members EI represents, will be taken to New York next week and presented to the United Nations there to mark the success of the campaign.
Tomorrow, tens of thousands of teachers will gather in New Delhi to march for quality education, and celebrate the campaign. The event is the second in a string of events around the globe that will ultimately culminate in a big electronic lobby effort on World Teachers' Day on October 5 (via www.5oct.org).