2024 Education International World Congress
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 6, 23 August 2024, page 12.
From 29 July to 2 August, more than 1,200 teacher unionists from 150 countries met for the 10th World Congress of the global teachers’ union, Education International (EI), in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Education International (EI) World Congress normally meets every four years, however the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of the in-person congress by one year and resulted in the EI 9th World Congress being online in 2023.
In the opening address we heard from former Australian Education Union (AEU) Federal Secretary and EI President Susan Hopgood, who reinforced the importance of the theme of the congress - Growing Our Unions, Elevating Our Profession, Defending Democracy – and emphasised the role of unions in shaping the future.
Many of the issues that teachers and school-leaders are facing globally are being faced in Queensland too. These include the teacher shortage crisis, the impact of the climate crisis (which is wreaking havoc across many regions, leaving classrooms destroyed and millions of teachers and students displaced), and the advent of technology, not as a substitute for a teacher but as a transformative force in education integrated through active and human-centred teaching and learning practices.
“Without teachers and their unions, you cannot have truth, trust or democracy.” David Edwards, General Secretary of EI, reflected on the historic United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, which was convened in response to the education crisis. EI was the voice of the profession on the panel, a voice that was heard loud and clear.
The panel discovered that, while the world will need 44 million additional primary and secondary teachers by 2030 to reach United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets on education; more teachers are leaving, and fewer people are joining the profession.
The panel made 59 landmark recommendations that call for urgent government action to end the global shortage, strengthen the profession, and ensure teachers are valued and respected. They are broad and progressive. The panel calls on governments to take urgent action on:
- pay and conditions
- professional practice
- gender, equity, and diversity
- social dialogue and collective bargaining
- technology and the future work in education
- education financing.
The recommendations are the result of persistent union advocacy and calls for the creation of national commissions that bring together teacher unions and governments to address critical issues in education and monitor the implementation of the recommendations. Although these recommendations are welcome, they will not become a reality without financing.
Education unions around the world are joining forces to build inclusive quality public education for all by mobilising to fully fund public education systems and resist budget cuts, austerity, and privatisation. The “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign is an urgent call for governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and public good, and to invest more in teachers, the single most important factor in achieving quality education.
This means guaranteeing labour rights and ensuring good working conditions, as well as manageable workloads and competitive salaries for teachers and education workers. It also means valuing teachers, respecting teachers, ensuring they are central to decision-making, and trusting their pedagogical expertise.
Globally, unions are working together across borders to guarantee every student’s right to a well-supported qualified teacher and a quality learning environment. Funding public education improves pay, working conditions, and empowers teachers and education personnel to stay and thrive in the profession they love and the world needs.