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The status and role of professional teachers are affected by global efforts to make schools reason and operate like private companies even in some schools systems that may appear untouched by market reform fervour. A publication released last month on the profession addresses, in different contexts, the impact of that...

The acronym for the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) suggests two meanings. The first, based on a pronunciation with a short “a” sound and stress on the second syllable, calls to mind the Spanish term meaning knowledge (or to know). The second, based on a pronunciation...

In the era of fake news, media literacy is essential for democracies the world over. Educators play a crucial role in helping their students become responsible and discerning citizens who can navigate the increasingly complex media landscape and make informed decisions.

African nations actively participated in the development of the Sustainable Development Agenda that acknowledged the centrality of education in the achievement of all other plans for a better world. Like other nations of the world, they committed to the provision of a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious...

Teaching is just like life: always full of surprises. Too often, however, these surprises give rise to frustration, disappointment and demotivation. But why, you might ask? It’s simple: education is one of society’s essential foundations and we all know that we must invest in it through well thought out and...

Luxembourg’s shortage of qualified primary school teachers has often made the front pages in recent years, even though the OECD has once again reported that Luxembourg’s teachers are the best paid. A shortage and an exceptional salary may seem like an inexplicable paradox, even to those of us in Luxembourg,...

I have been working in the education sector for five years. It is not a long time but it is not a short time either. I have spent a lot of good time teaching students, cooperating with my colleagues and participating in trade union activities - the activities of The...

In preparation for next year’s conference of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU), an extended meeting of the KTU Executive Committee was convened, underlining the issues of democracy, gender equality and action against climate change.

I was impressed by the way my teachers, both in Primary and Secondary schools, had taught me. The way they taught was very motivating and contagious. That inspired me to be like them when I grew up.

Get ready. This is going to be a feel-good story about why you should go out into the world and teach. Also, hopefully it will inspire you to become an active unionist. And if you have left teaching, I will try to convince you to come back to the magical...

After completing university with good grades, I had the chance to do the national service: a one-year mandatory service for Ghanaian students who graduate from accredited tertiary institutions which aims at tackling brain-drain and unemployment hence ensuring that various key sectors are adequately resourced. I did it at the Amansie...

One of the most consequential debates and decisions of our 8th World Congress was on professional teaching standards. Congress passed a resolution supporting the implementation of a joint EI/UNESCO framework on the development of professional teaching standards where it is clear that teachers’ unions must be at the centre of...

Education International's decision to encourage discussion of an International Treaty concerning the exceptions and limitations to copyright for educational and research activities is both timely and necessary. The obstacles imposed on these activities by the excessively restrictive regulations in this area become remarkably difficult to overcome in the current context,...

It was a historic moment when in 2015 UN member states adopted a progressive agenda for a better world, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Central to the SDGs was the important (albeit overdue) recognition that social and economic development cannot be pursued without taking into account their environmental impact. That...

Strongest hurricane in recorded history, hottest summer, unprecedented mass bleaching of the coral reef… we have grown accustomed to deal in superlatives. Since 1970, the number of natural disasters worldwide has more than quadrupled to around 400 a year. Scientists have warned us about the extreme weather phenomena climate change...

The United Nations established the International Day of Democracy on the 15th of September in 2007 to promote democracy. In 2019, it is clear that democracy and all the things that go with it like human rights and rule of law need to be defended as well as promoted. Education...

I woke up in Budapest on a fine summer morning to deliver a lecture using materials I had prepared in Malaysia in accordance with copyright exceptions allowed in Malaysia. Just before the lecture, I was informed that my materials did not conform to copyright laws in the EU. Dismay! This...

The neoliberal doctrine of New Public Management (NPM) is the essential reference for education policies all over the world. It seeks to destroy the professional autonomy of teachers.