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This was the resounding message from teachers around the world as they lobbied and marched and celebrated World Teachers’ Day, despite the global economic crisis threatening education and other key public services.

At the meeting held from 1-3 Dec, the EI Exectuive Board discussed at length the continuing impact of the global economic crisis on the education sector worldwide.

Mr Secretary General, Ambassadors, Colleagues,

EI joined ITUC and Italian trade unions meeting IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Rome. Strauss-Kahn stressed "the crisis is not over", recognized the issue of IMF conditionalities, and announced a new IMF study on how to tax international financial transactions.

Below is the keynote address by Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary at the UNESCO General Conference held in Paris, on the 9 of October October 2009.

In the face of the global economic crisis, it is vitally important that governments invest significantly in public education, making it a cornerstone of economic recovery plans. Education International, the global union federation representing 30 million teachers around the world, is appealing to the international community to take urgent action...

EI welcomed the commitments made in Pittsburgh last week to put “quality jobs at the heart of the recovery” and “to strengthen support for the most vulnerable”.

Below is the keynote address by Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, at the 6th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference held in Bangkok from 28-30 September 2009. The title of the conference is "Asia-Pacific Teacher Organisations’ Response to the Global Crises".

G20 Leaders responded to labour and civil society. They were “singing our song”. Now comes the hard part – getting governments to follow through

Will the G20 Leaders meeting in Pittsburgh this week agree on the coordinated action need for global recovery? Some positive signs from leaked letters and public statements. But will these signs be translated into real action?

Colleagues,

One of the principal announcements coming out of the G20 Summit in London last April was the launch of the Financial Stability Board, which is meant to ensure global financial stability and especially to set up measures which would prevent another crisis in the future. It will bring together major...

Below is the opening address by EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, at the High Level Seminar on the impact of the economic crisis on education in central and eastern Europe in Warsaw from 2-4 September 2009.

Teachers’ working conditions around the world have deteriorated in recent years, mainly due to deep education funding cutbacks and increasing workload pressures, and the economic crisis is only likely to worsen the situation.

To build towards achievement of quality education there must be greater recognition of the important role played by principals and other school leaders. This was one of the key conclusions of an EI school leadership seminar called “Quality leadership for quality education” held in Helsinki in May. Hosted by the...

As thousands of Iranian citizens took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to demand fairness in their national election process, workers around the world expressed their support for social justice in Iran. On 26 June, EI and its affiliates joined trade unionists and activists in many countries to...