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World Teachers Day - 5 October

NASUWT is marking WTD 2011 with an interactive map highlighting the nations across the world where the Union has campaigned to support oppressed trade union movements. We have also produced a series of classroom resources for our four priority countries, designed to inform pupils about events in those parts of the world.

See how NASUWT is marking World Teachers Day

NASUWT International Solidarity

• 'Like' the NASUWT International Solidarity Facebook page
• NASUWT International Solidarity Magazine
• EI Policy Paper on Education
• Spain: Teachers protest against cuts to education budget
• Statement from ETUCE on the financial crisis

Current appeals

NASUWT urges members to support appeals in the following countries by taking the actions specified:

• Middle East including Egypt and Tunisia
• Bahrain
• Korea
• Swaziland
• Burma
• Iraq
• Colombia
• Zimbabwe
• Venezuela
• Uganda
• NASUWT-supported international 'Designated Days'

If you are an NASUWT member working as a teacher in an international capacity. Let us know at campaigns@mail.nasuwt.org.uk. The Union is eager to build its database of members involved in work to improve access to education overseas.

NASUWT continues to campaign for teachers across the globe. As a member of the global federation of trade unions, Education International (EI)(new window), Deputy General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach is a member of its Executive Board.

The NASUWT offers legal services to overseas members and is also committed to improving the experiences of overseas-trained teachers.

Keep in touch below with the latest developments, learn about how the Union actively campaigns for global access to education for all.

News

NASUWT makes call to protect education at 6th EI World Congress

NASUWT led a global call for action to ensure education is not made the scapegoat of the global financial crisis.

The poorest are unfairly being made to pay the price for the global financial crisis, the Union told delegates in a motion to the Education International World Congress, held in Cape Town, South Africa in July.

Poorer countries are being forced to close schools and cut teachers’ jobs and pay as they struggle to cope with the impact of the worldwide recession, the NASUWT told the international meeting of trade unions. Teachers and other public service workers are being denigrated and trade unions attacked by Governments worldwide.

Trade unions across the world must work together to fight this attack, the Union stated, and put further pressure on world leaders to honour their commitments to achieve universal primary education for all children by 2015 and ensure all children have equal access to both primary and secondary education. The majority of the 69 million children currently missing out on school worldwide are girls and the NASUWT warned that without concerted action, the promise to eliminate this gender disparity would be broken.

The introduction of a financial transaction tax for global financial institutions would ensure these commitments could be met and could resolve the need to make deeply damaging cuts to public services. The NASUWT’s motion commits Education International and its affiliates to campaigning for the introduction of a tax.

Speaking to Congress, NASUWT President John Rimmer said: “This Robin Hood Tax, this Financial Transactions Tax is a tax that will take money from bankers internationally without hitting ordinary working families. In the United Kingdom alone a small 0.05% tax would raise £20bn in one year. If introduced worldwide it will wipe out world poverty in a heartbeat. It will deal with the climatic challenges our world is facing. The lack of international banking regulation has driven millions of people into poverty and put many more at risk as the world's poorest countries scramble to fill huge budget deficits while poor people around the world are being hit hardest by the cuts.” EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, encouraged educators from all over the world to become active and mobilise in order to confront the challenges the international teacher trade union movement faces.

Van Leeuwen said: "If we look at the history of Education International, I believe that we are ready to enter a new phase in our life. In the first phase, from 1993 until 2001, much of the organisation’s capacity and energy was invested in building and consolidating unity. At the same time we developed our advocacy, and in the second phase, over the last decade, we gained recognition as the Voice of the Teaching Profession in the international community. We have good reasons to be proud of that. But, colleagues no matter how crucial it is to be united and to be heard, it is not enough. We must now enter a new, third phase, a phase of strengthening our capacity to mobilise. We must move from unity, to advocacy to mobilisation. Yes, we are strong today. But we need more strength to confront the attacks on public education, the attacks on teachers and the attacks on our unions and associations. We need more strength to elevate our profession."

Susan Hopgood, EI President, called on educators to stand together and fight the challenges that lie ahead of the international teacher trade union movement. “With the failures of neoliberalism and the unfettered market having been exposed, many thought we would see the emergence of a new world order and new paradigm,” said Hopgood. “A new paradigm which would see a renewed embrace of civil society with a new commitment to its fundamental pillars of human rights, trade union rights, social justice and of course quality education for all. As we continue to observe, this is not the case. Around the world we are being confronted with new challenges, deeper challenges.”

NASUWT National Official Darren Northcott contributed to a motion on teacher migration saying: “In some cases, particularly in a number of large urban areas, it is no exaggeration to state that the education system could not function without the vital contribution made by overseas trained teachers. So, it might be thought that, given the critical role played by migrant teachers in the education systems of receiving countries, that they would – at the very least – be afforded rights, entitlements and conditions of service that reflect their status and value. However, all too often, we find that this is not the case. In some administrations in the United Kingdom – discrimination against overseas trained teachers has been built into many aspects of the system.”

NASUWT wins re-election onto EI Board

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT’s Deputy General Secretary, has been successfully re-elected to the Executive Board of Education International (EI), the world’s largest federation of trade unions.

Dr Roach topped the ballot and will remain a member of the Executive Board for another four years. The announcement was made at EI’s World Congress which is taking place in South Africa.

EI represents thirty million teachers and other education employees in 170 countries around the world.

Dr Roach’s re-election to the Executive Board is a highly prestigious achievement and allows the NASUWT to continue its work to promote and represent the interests of teachers on a global scale.

The NASUWT is an affiliate of Education International, which represents 30 million teachers in 171 countries across all levels of education. You can now read the July issue of EI’s Worlds of Education magazine which is packed full of features from member unions around the globe.

This issue provides an in-depth analysis of educational challenges and developments in South Africa, from the use of cell phone technology for reading, to the Equal Education project . The magazine also reports on the World Bank’s new Education Strategy 2020 and highlights successful development co-operation and union capacity building projects in Burundi, Mali, and Moldova. 

Turkey

Many working people in Turkey are denied basic workplace rights. The NASUWT is backing a campaign by Amnesty International calling on the Turkish government to ensure that labour laws guarantee the rights of men and women in the workplace.

Read more about the campaign for workers' rights.