Education International has honoured two outstanding teachers during an awards ceremony which took place at its 6th World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. Pauline Ladouceur received the Albert Shanker Education Award while Gülçin Isbert was given the Mary Hatwood Futrell Human and Trade Union Rights Award in absentia.
Ladouceur, who is a member of the Fédération des Syndicats de l’Enseignement, which is affiliated to Centrale des Syndicats du Québec, has taught pupils with learning difficulties in disadvantaged communities for more than 25 years, as well as training teachers at the University of Quebec. Accepting the award, Ladouceur said: “This is profoundly moving because the work of teachers working with special-needs students is seldom recognised. We teachers practice the very finest profession. Even if the results are not immediate, sooner or later, you discover that you have made a difference for many young people.”
The Turkish primary school teacher, Isbert, who is a member of Egitim Sen, was recognised for her work to promote women’s empowerment and the rights of ethnic minorities. She is among 31 trade unionists who have been on trial since November 2009 for allegedly belonging to an ‘illegal’ Kurdish organisation. The Turkish authorities have prevented Isbert from travelling to Cape Town to collect her award so she addressed delegates through a pre-recorded video.
Isbert said: “I am a teacher, and I believe that education is a basic and universal human right that should be public, democratic, and available in the mother tongue for everyone. Isbert said: “I am a teacher, and I believe that education is a basic and universal human right that should be public, democratic, and available in the mother tongue for everyone. I feel honoured for myself, and on behalf of my union, to be given this award, and I’d like to pay tribute to all companions fighting for freedom. I thank EI for its continuing solidarity.“