The presidents of Education International and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) have called on the G20 to support a new global partnership for teacher education and professional development.
EI President, Susan Hopgood, said: “We a face a worldwide shortage of more than 10 million teachers over the next five years. Millions more need support to become qualified and develop their professional skills. Qualified teachers are the key to quality in education, and countries need an unprecedented global partnership to invest in education.”
Supporting this call, the CTF President, Mary-Lou Donnelly, explained that Canadian teachers had worked for years to run in-service training programs for their colleagues in developing countries with funding provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). “We are deeply committed to teachers helping teachers, and Canada has tremendous experience to offer to such a new global partnership,” she continued.
The call for a new global partnership is part of the statement presented by Global Unions to the leaders attending the G8 and G20 summits this week. Both EI and CTF presidents are delegates at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) World Congress, in Vancouver.
Also at the Congress is EI General Secretary, Fred Van Leeuwen, who used his address to the gathering to explain that the worldwide demand for qualified teachers was winning support from all quarters. “The consensus on this is welcome and striking,” said Leeuwen, “and the G20 is the place to move it forward. We're calling on the G20 to support the concept in Toronto, and to work with all the stakeholders, especially EI and our members to put proposals in place for the next G20 in Seoul this November,” he concluded.
Over recent months, EI has engaged in important consultations on this key issue with UNESCO, the World Bank, the OECD and World Economic Forum as well as Global Unions, NGOs and major corporations.
Founded in 1920, CTF is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teacher organisations that represent nearly 200,000 elementary and secondary school teachers across Canada. CTF is also a member of Education International.