The Executive Board, the governing body that directs the affairs and activities of Education International between World Congresses in conformity with the resolutions and decisions of the latter, has met in Brussels from 26 to 28 October.
Board members discussed issues concerning the upcoming World Congress, which will be held in Cape Town in July 2011. Other topics high on the agenda of the global teacher movement tackled by the Board included current education issues such as vocational education, teacher migration, or early childhood education. General developments in the international trade union movement were also scrutinized.
The meeting was marked by changes in the composition of the Board. The governing body was joined by two new members, Randi Weingarten, President, AFT/USA, who replaces Ed McElroy (also AFT/USA), and Patrick Roach, Deputy General Secretary, NASUWT/UK, who replaces Jerry Bartlett, from the same organisation.
Fred van Leeuwen, EI's General Secretary, thanked both McElroy and Bartlett for their fruitful and dedicated work with EI. "Solidarity between nations, solidarity between trade unions, solidarity between people. That is what lies at the heart of the teacher trade union movement. You stand for those principles, and the teachers of the world acknowledge their gratitude for this," he said.