On Monday 20 April, teachers and their unions around the world will join students and NGOs in the launch of Global Action Week 2009. EI Executive Board members will be participating in celebrations to advocate for youth and adult literacy and lifelong learning.
Several members of the Education International Executive Board have announced their involvement in Global Action Week activities. Irene Duncan Adanusa, EI Vice-President and General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, is expected to take part in ZNUT's activities in Zambia. Salimata Doumbia, General Secretary of SNEPPCI in Côte d'Ivoire, is traveling to attend an event organised by the coalition in Guinea.
In Canada, CTF President Emily Noble will be present at the "Big Read" event that will take place on Tuesday 21 April as part of the annual breakfast with Members of Parliament and Senators.
The Big Read will be the central activity of the campaign. It will be carried out in classrooms all over the world, from big cities in the UK to rural schools in Ghana. The written contributions of students and teachers are still being collected and added to the compilation of short stories written by numerous personalities about the significance of education. The compiled stories will be exhibited and read aloud during the Global Action Week celebrations. The Big Read will then be delivered to governments in a global effort to demand concrete provision of literacy programmes and access to free, quality education for all children and adults.
Around the globe, EI member organisations will undertake activities to advocate for literacy as a human right and a key aspect to combat poverty and social exclusion. Our union members in Melilla, Spain are organising a "book market", where children will be exchanging their already-read books with their schoolmates. In Costa Rica, ANDE will be donating children books to schools in need of resources.
In Brazil, CNTE will call on teachers, parents and students across the country to participate in school conferences and debates on public education, coinciding with a national mobilisation for the implementation of the law on teachers' salary passed by the government last year.
Pictures and reports of your debates, seminars, public readings, artistic events and press conferences can be sent as soon as available to globalactionweek@ei-ie.org
A pack of promotional material including a poster, a leaflet and stickers can be downloaded from EI's Global Action Week website: www.ei-ie.org/globalactionweek