EI Task Force on ESP Constitutive meeting
The Constitutive meeting of the Education International (EI) Task Force on Education Support Personnel (ESP) was held from 24-25 January in Brussels, Belgium. The task force was established to advise EI and guide the implementation of the Resolution on ESP, paying specific attention to the status, rights and conditions of ESP. It is developing a long-term strategy to boost EI’s representation of ESP in areas including the Global Response against privatisation, quality terms of employment, and the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Creation of a CGU LGBTI working group
On 20-21 February, the Council of Global Unions’ (CGU) 2017 annual meeting in Brussels, Belgium, agreed to create a CGU LGBTI working group. Appointed Global Union Federation (GUF) contacts and focal points will meet to shape the common approach and joint strategies ahead of the 4th EI/Public Services International (PSI) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Forum. The PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli, appointed chair of the Council of Global Unions, will convene the working group’s first meeting.
EI Leadership’s meeting with World Bank officials
A long-awaited face-to-face meeting between officials of the two organisations has seen both sides find common ground in their commitment to both strengthening the teaching profession and to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goal on education. The message from World Bank Vice-President Keith E. Hansen and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Chief Executive Officer Philippe le Houerou to EI leadership in Washington on 3 February was clear: an “unwavered commitment” to the strengthening of the teaching profession and to the SDG 4 principles of free, quality and inclusive education for all. The meeting was the result of months-long concerns and doubts which had surfaced at EI about the Bank's commitment, given its support to the privatisation and commercialisation of education services, including for profit schooling by Bridge International Academies (BIA) in Uganda, Kenya and Liberia. The EI studies on the operations of BIA found that the company provides poor quality education and works with unqualified teachers in order to satisfy its profit margins. The Bank officials said that EI's findings will be taken into account when the IFC's support to BIA is evaluated later this year. The EI’s president, vice-presidents, general secretary and deputy general secretaries took part in this meeting, which all participants agreed should be seen as a new beginning of an ongoing dialogue between the Bank and EI.
EI Indigenous Bulletin
The EI Indigenous Bulletin No. 3, February 2017 was issued to member organisations on 23 February and posted on social media. The number of subscriptions and readers are increasing.
Announcement of the 4th EI/PSI LGBTI Forum
The 4th EI/PSI LGBTI Forum was announced on 27 February. It will be held in Geneva on 30 October, prior the 30th PSI Congress. The Forum provides guidance to global unions, EI and PSI’s Executive Boards and LGBTI networks.