|
EI
monthly monitor
Vol
6 N°6 July - August 1999
|
| EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL KEEPS ON GROWING... |
Education International expands its Brussels headquarters in October ...
Due to a steady growth in activities, staff, services, and membership
since its creation – from 210 organisations in 114 countries and territories
representing 18 million members in 1993, to 294 affiliates in 152 countries
representing 23 million members in 1999 -, Education International has
decided to expand its headquarters’ office space. As of October 1999,
EI will rent an additional floor in the ITUH building. This expansion is
possible as the owner has agreed to a considerable reduction on the rent
for both the 8th and 9th floors, the latter being vacant since 1993. Much-needed
new workstations and meeting rooms will be available following the reorganisation.
The extra space not required by EI for the time being (about 400 m2) will
be offered for rent (see box).
... and gets a new address mid-December
The local authorities have decided to rename the street where EI headquarters has been located since 1993 (see Monitor Vol 1 No 5) and to ‘renumber’ every building. Therefore, please take note and inform all your services that, as of 14 December 1999, our new address (as well as ETUCE’s, Lärarförbundet’s, ICFTU’s and other institutions under the same roof) will read:
5, Boulevard du Roi Albert II (8th)
1210 Brussels
Belgium
|
Education International will sublet, as of 1 October 1999, approximately 400 m2 of new office space on the ninth floor of the International Trade Union House, 155, Boulevard Émile Jacqmain, 1210 Brussels, Belgium. Ideally, EI is looking for one tenant from the trade union movement, or from a national/international organisation involved in the promotion of democracy, social justice and equality; however, a subdivision of the space available is not excluded. Office services such as reception, photocopying, mailing, etc., could be supplied by the EI secretariat. Considering the numerous facilities and geographical situation of
this modern building in the newly-redeveloped city centre Gare du Nord
District (served by public transport, and only ten km from Brussels National
Airport at Zaventem),
For more information, please contact
Tel: +32 2 224 0611
|
| REGIONS |
Europe
EI/E Equal Opportunities Committee covers several issues
The EI/Europe Standing Committee on Equal Opportunities met in Brussels on 17-18 May 1999. With a full agenda, 22 members of the committee received reports on Kosovo and women in Afghanistan. Work was completed on the development of a policy on casualisation of employment. Continuing the study initiated in earlier meetings, presentations on learning styles of boys and girls were made by Dr. Patricia Murphy, Director of the Centre for Curriculum and Teaching Studies of the Open University (UK) and by Ulf Fredriksson EI Coordinator for Education. A discussion of the European programme for the 2000-2001 biennium dealt with the participants’ wish to be able to continue developing the work on a number of topics.
Concerns were raised on the forthcoming revision of the ILO Convention
on Maternity Protection and members of the committee were asked to lobby
their governments to ensure that there was no weakening of the current
Convention. Information on the European planning for the World March of
Women 2000 (see EI’s 8 March 1999 poster and April 1999 EI Magazine) was
provided; recommendations were made for EI's report on the Status and Education
of Girls being prepared for the review of the Beijing Platform of Action
at a special session of the United Nations in June 2000. To this end, EI
member unions worldwide have received a 12-page questionnaire (to be returned
no
later than 15 November 1999) to evaluate progress in improving the
status and education of girls.
European Indigenous Educators Forum planned for 2000
EI Norwegian affiliates have offered to host a first European Indigenous
Educators Forum in March 2000. Indigenous participants nominated by their
unions would meet for two days to discuss the issues and challenges they
confront within their national education systems and within their unions,
as well as to share information and successful initiatives in Indigenous
Education. They would identify priorities to present to union leaders on
the third day. The organisation of similar regional or sub-regional forums
was proposed in the 1998 Congress resolution on the Rights of the Indigenous
Peoples (see Highlights p. 143-145) and by the 26 May 1999 EI/E
Regional Conference in Luxembourg.
A comprehensive overview of research in vocational education and training
Training for a Changing Society is the first in a series of
biennial
reports on European research in the field of VET published by CEDEFOP,
the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. The document,
in two parts, covers theory and methodology, empirical findings and implications
for policy and practice. A synthesis report has been published in English
(ISBN 92-828-5640-2, 300 p.), French (ISBN 92-828-3489-1, 352 p.), German
(ISBN 92-828-3487-5, 346 p.) and Spanish (ISBN 92-828-3486-7). The background
material -2 volumes- is available in English (ISBN 92-828-3612-6). Price:
19 EUR (excluding VAT). More information at: http://www.cedefop.gr
Fax: +30 31 490 102
As announced in earlier Monitors, preparations are underway for the EI International Round Table on Vocational Education and Training to be held in 8, 9, and 10 March 2000 in Fès (Morocco).
Latin America
EI mission on Child Labour in Latin America
From 31 August to 10 September 1999, Education International will meet
Latin American affiliates OTEP (Paraguay), SUTEP (Peru) and CNTE (Brazil)
to discuss their proposed national plans of action against child labour
and facilitate contacts with the ILO/IPEC officers responsible for the
EI/ILO project on child labour. The Regional office staff will also be
involved in the follow up of project activities. EI Equal Opportunities
Coordinator Marta Scarpato will also meet Mercosur affiliates on the establishment
of a Women Teachers’ Network.
| EDUCATION |
EI Round Table on Globalisation and Education systems in OECD countries
EI will hold a high-level meeting on education reforms in industrialised countries on 25-27 October 1999 in Tokyo (Japan). The Round Table will focus on the theme Education systems in the context of globalisation: stakes and challenges for the public education sector. The following points will be discussed (with the contribution of guest speakers):
1- Preparation of young people for their advancement in an increasingly
globalised society;
2- Proposals for the liberalisation of the international trade in
education;
3- Violence in schools: a brake on the quality of education.
The working languages will be English, French and Japanese.
This (informal) meeting has a double objective: on the one hand, it
will bring together the main leaders of affiliated organisations from the
29 OECD Member States, so that they can talk informally about particularly
sensitive issues concerning reform of education systems in the context
of globalisation. On the other hand, it will allow the participants to
get to know each other better and to freely exchange experiences, hopes
and worries. Previous OECD zone Round Tables took place in St-Petersburg,
Florida (USA) in December 1996 and in Madrid (Spain) in February 1998 (see
Monitor Vol 5 No 4). Helsinki (Finland) should be the next venue, in October
2000.
|
Education International is preparing its contribution to the Global EFA (Education for All) 2000 Assessment. This evaluation will culminate in April 2000 when UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank hold an international conference in Dakar (Sénégal) on the progress made in the field of Education for All since the 1990 Jomtien Conference. EI will focus on the teacher perspective and concentrate on a limited number of countries –Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan- with a huge population and a large number of illiterates and out-of-school children. A questionnaire has been sent to all affiliates in these countries in order to get information about:
|
The Vienna Conference recommends the development of Media Education
Forty-one representatives from 33 countries attended the UNESCO conference on Educating for the Media and the Digital Age, 18-20 April 1999 in Vienna (see Monitor Vol 6 No 3). EI was among the participants. Throughout the meeting (ably hosted by the National Commission for UNESCO and the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of Austria), there was continuous video news coverage by students from a nearby secondary school and radio interviews conducted by primary school pupils.
After presentations and discussions of the papers of the conference,
working groups were formed to draw up a final declaration. The participants
stated, among other things, that Media Education is part of the basic
entitlement of every citizen, in every country of the world, to freedom
of expression and the right to information, and is instrumental in building
and sustaining democracy. They suggested that Media Education should
be introduced wherever possible within national curricula as well as in
tertiary, non-formal and lifelong education. Participants at the Vienna
Conference recommended that UNESCO should: further several forms of research
at local and international level, facilitate cross-cultural evaluation
of initial and in-service teacher training methods and programmes, develop
appropriate guidelines -based on ethical principles- that address corporate
sponsorship of Media Education initiatives and programmes, etc. The creation,
as soon as possible, of an international Clearing House for Media Education
was put forward to promote and coordinate these actions. The participants’
recommendations will be forwarded to the UNESCO General Conference beginning
on 26 October 1999 in Paris (France).
Children and Media Violence Yearbook 1999 now available from UNESCO Clearing House
The UNESCO International Clearing House on Children and Violence on
the Screen has just released its second Yearbook Children and Media:
Image, Education, Participation (483 p.) and a companion bibliography
(44 p. - available on Internet). Bringing together researchers, teachers,
media professionals and voluntary organisations in different parts of the
world, the Yearbook 1999 aims to stimulate initiatives and programmes that
combat gratuitous media violence. Price paperback: £20; US$30. To
order, please contact: Nordicom, Göteborg University, P.O. Box 713,
SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. Fax: +46 31 773 46 55. E-mail: pia.hepsever@nordicom.gu.se
More information, useful links, and electronic versions of the Clearing
House newsletter News on Children and Violence on the Screen (in English
only) on Internet at: http://www.nordicom.gu.se
The Clearing House has also published a booklet (in German, Swedish and
soon in English and Spanish) on the influences of media violence.
|
For their ‘outstanding commitment to promoting educational opportunity and tolerance among peoples’, EI President Dr. Mary Hatwood Futrell and Education International will receive the Wright-Dunbar Educational Service Award during ceremonies at the commemoration of the Day for Tolerance, on 16 November 1999, at the United Nations headquarters in New York (USA). EI will be joined six other honorees who ‘have furthered the virtues of understanding and tolerance through their creative talent’. Other internationally prominent personalities to be honoured by the DaCapo Foundation and Friends of the United Nations for their Lifetime Achievements promoting peace and tolerance include Mikhaïl Gorbachev and John Glenn. Participants to our Second World Congress in Washington D.C. will remember that the president of Friends of the United Nations took part, with UNESCO’s Director-General Federico Mayor, in the presentation of the Gandhi Medal -see EI Magazine September 1998. |
| HUMAN & TRADE UNION RIGHTS |
|
Thanks to the generous support from EI member organisations worldwide and a major contribution from NOVIB, the Netherlands Oxfam International partner, SBASHK (the Union of Education, Science and Culture of Kosovo) was able to organise summer schools for nearly 135,000 primary and secondary students whose lives had been savagely disrupted and who had been forced, like the teachers themselves, to seek refuge in Albania and Macedonia. The teachers unions in Albania provided tremendous support and SONK, the EI affiliate in Macedonia, also assisted. SBASHK is now focusing on the reopening of educational services in Kosovo for the start of the new academic year. It is a huge challenge with so many schools damaged or destroyed, so many teachers and other education staff displaced, so many curriculum resources to be recreated, so little remaining equipment or furniture. A full report from EI and SBASHK will be available by the end of September. Already seriously damaged by the ten years of hostilities in the old Yugoslavia and with refugees flooding in from Kosovo joining those already there from the Bosnian wars, the tiny Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro courageously refused to support the destructive policies of the Milosevic regime. The Independent Montenegrin Union of Education, Science, Culture and Physical Culture has been a leader in promoting an open society and a multiethnic culture and community within the union and within Montenegro. EI was able to provide some humanitarian support to the Kosovo refugees and the communities supporting them through the union, specifically for use in the schools which the refugee children attended. Unfortunately, the Yugoslav Army prevented a more substantial programme being implemented until the cease-fire was agreed with NATO. An EI investigation team has since completed a comprehensive assessment of the education situation in Montenegro and proposals for a programme of action are now being finalised with the Montenegrin Education Union. While in Montenegro in July, the EI team arranged to meet with the President
of the Serbian Education Union (another component of the Yugoslav EI member
organisation ATUESCPCY). The impact of the war has clearly been devastating
for the education sector in Serbia. Some immediate assistance has been
provided both for refugee teachers and for Serbian teachers whose homes
and schools have been damaged
The EI Officers meeting on 27-28 September 1999 in Washington D.C. (USA) will be receiving a comprehensive plan for EI support to members in the Balkans over the next three years. |
EI-PSI Asia-Pacific Trade Union and Human Rights Network Launched
During the first week of August, Education International and Public
Services International, with ILO support, held a materials development
workshop in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) - the first stage in a three year project
to develop an extensive trade union and human rights network, involving
grassroots teachers, education support staff and public servants throughout
Asia and the Pacific.
| WOMEN |
EI affiliates invited to lobby for the advancement of Maternity Protection standards
As ILO undertakes a revision of Convention 103 and Recommendation
95 on Maternity Protection for its 2000 Conference, affiliates are
invited to circulate to their members EI information and policies on this
important subject, and to send EI details of relevant developments in the
education sector (changes in legisla-tion, major problems, etc). Civil
organisations working for the protection of working mothers should also
be contacted. Steps must be taken to ensure that your government does not
oppose positive proposals in 2000.
| INTERNATIONAL |
UNDP’s Human Development Report
1999 proposes Globalization with a Human Face
“Global inequalities have reached grotesque proportions,”
says the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in its tenth edition
of the Human Development Report released 12 July 1999 in more than 100
capitals around the world. The annual survey focuses this year on the costs
and benefits of globalization. According to the UNDP, global markets, global
technology, global ideas and global solidarity can enrich the lives of
people everywhere. The challenge is to ensure that the benefits are shared
equitably and that this increasing interdependence works for people -not
just for profits. This year’s Report argues that globalization is not new,
but that the present era of globalization, driven by competitive global
markets, is outpacing the governance of markets and the repercussions on
people.
In addition to the ranking of 174 countries on the human development
index (HDI), the 1999 Report presents a new table on trends in human development
from 1975 to 1997 for 79 countries. The UNDP report is published in Arabic,
Catalan, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian
and Spanish. Contact your local bookseller. Diskettes with HDR statistical
database and background papers can be purchased from UN Publications: Tel:
+1 212 963 8302 Fax: +1 212 253 9646. A Press Kit, data sheets, Report
overviews and ordering information are available from http://www.undp.org/hdro
UNESCO’s World Conference on Science for the 21st Century attracts 2000 participants
About 1800 scientists and ministers from 155 countries took part in the World conference on Science for the Twenty-First Century - A New Commitment, convened by UNESCO and the International Council for Science (ICSU) with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as host, from 26 June to 1 July 1999 in Budapest (Hungary) – see Monitor Vol 6 No 4. Education International was represented by Education Coordinator Monique Fouilhoux, who as one of the NGO speakers presented the EI programme on education, chaired the NGO meeting for the Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge and the Science Agenda - Framework for Action, besides serving as an active member of the Conference Drafting Committee. Bert Fredriksson, General Secretary of the Swedish Association of University Teachers (SULF), also attended as an observer and took part in meetings on various themes.
The participants heard speeches from Hungarian and UNESCO officials (Federico Mayor and Pál Pataki) as well as keynote addresses by renowned experts from the world’s scientific community. Mr Mayor appealed to young people to realise that science can be “an outlet for their idealism, a vehicle for making ours a better world.” During a meeting on “Science Education”, participants called for a greater emphasis on all levels of science education, from pre-school onwards.
Three fora-debates were open to scientists, administrators, education ministers and representatives of NGOs:
Forum I: Science: Achievements, Shortcomings and Challenges,
Forum II: Science and Society,
Forum III: Towards a New Commitment.
There was widespread agreement on the importance of the advancement of knowledge for all people as a service of humanity to produce a better quality of life for present and future generations. Worldwide cooperation among scientists is a valuable and constructive contribution to global security and to the development of peaceful interaction between different nations, societies and cultures.
The practice of scientific research and the use of scientific knowledge
should always aim at the welfare of humankind, men and women alike, be
respectful of the dignity of human beings and of their fundamental rights,
and take fully into account our shared responsibility towards future generations.
The participants in the 6-day World Conference were prepared to act with
determination to attain these goals and, in the closing session, they proclaimed
a grand alliance of science communities, decision-makers and civil society.
For further information on the results of the Conference: http://www.unesco.org
| PUBLIC@TIONS |
Children’s rights in education examined by IBE’s Prospects
The June 1999 issue of Prospects, the International Bureau of Education’s
(IBE) quarterly review of comparative education, deals with children’s
rights in education. What can be done to further closer agreement among
legislation, political decision and everyday practice? is the question
answered by EI Coordinator for Education Ulf Fredriksson in a ten-page
article for the Viewpoints/Controversies section. Prospects is available
in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. To subscribe
to the English, French and Spanish editions, contact the national distributor
of UNESCO publications in your country or: Jean De Lannoy, UNESCO Subscriptions
Service, 202 avenue du Roi, 1060 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 538 4308,
Fax: +32 2 538 0841. E-mail: jean.de.lannoy@infoboard.be
For other languages and general information on IBE publications: Publications
Unit, IBE, P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. E-mail: j.fox@ibe.unesco.org
Single issues cost FF60 for industrialised countries and FF30 for developing
countries. More information on IBE’s work at http://www.ibe.unesco.org
Children are the first victims of armed conflicts and other disasters
Since 1945 we have seen 150 conflicts erupt throughout the five continents,
resulting in 20 million deaths and 60 million casualties. In the First
World War, civilians accounted for 5% of the victims. According to UNESCO’s
Emergency Educational Assistance Unit, that figure has now risen to 80
or even 90 per cent, half of these being children. Around the world, more
than 20 million refugees and 30 million displaced persons are today living
in the most precarious circumstances, and at least 60% of their number
are children. EI and several affiliates are involved in humanitarian and
educational interventions in conflict areas. Here are some helpful publications
on these issues (and don’t forget to search UN agencies’ and NGOs’ web
sites):
FORTHCOMING PUBLIC@TIONS:
A third series of portraits for World Teachers’ Day 1999
In the footsteps of the successful WTD brochures Portraits in Courage
(1997) and The Quiet Peacemakers (1998), UNESCO and Education International
will offer this year a third series of portraits from Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, France, Jordan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Sénégal, Trinidad
& Tobago putting the spotlight on innovative teachers developing their
students’ potential. Illustrating the 1999 World Teachers’ Day theme, Teachers,
a force for social change, the publication (available in English, French
and Spanish) is meant to reach a wide audience; it will be posted on EI’s
and UNESCO Education’s web sites and can be reproduced in unions’ newsletters
or magazines and in your local media. Member organisations have already
received 1999 WTD posters for distribution as well as a selection of 83
quotes about teachers/teaching. Press statements and communiqués
will be issued soon. Visit the WWW regularly at: http://www.ei-ie.org
or http://www.education.unesco.org
New EI material for peace education
Through September-October, Education International will send a kit to
member organisations as part of our campaign of action for the International
Year for the Culture of Peace (see Monitor Vol 6 No 4, pp. 1 & 6).
The EI kit provides up-to-date information on human rights issues and peace
initiatives from an education perspective. It is also designed to serve
as a teaching resource and will help our affiliates to involve their own
members in peace education by the year 2000. The documents (available in
English, French and Spanish) include 12 practical topics on peace and education,
camera ready for publication in affiliates’ newsletters, magazines or other
media. In response to a resolution of the Second EI World Congress (see
Highlights pp. 122), there is a range of materials for teachers and students
in support of a universal Peace Truce during the 2000 Summer Olympiad in
Sydney.
The WTO and the Millenium Round: What is at stake for public education?
On the threshold of the 21st century, global public spending on education tops one trillion dollars. This figure represents the costs of over 50 million teachers, one billion pupils and students, and hundreds of thousands of educational establishments throughout the world. Education therefore constitutes a huge sector, which some observers are already describing as a colossal “market”. Against the background of globalisation, and with free trade being put forward as a cure-all by the champions of economic laissez-faire, public education is increasingly being targeted by predatory and powerful entrepreneurial interests. A forthcoming publication, The WTO and the Millenium Round: What is at stake for public education?, examines the key issues for the world of education as the World Trade Organisation launches a new round of negotiation. Previews appeared on page 29 of the July 1999 EI Magazine and in the EI series Education: Questions for Debate No2 – May 1999.
As part of the EI/PSI (Public Services International) co-operation agreement,
the two International Trade Secretariats (ITS) have agreed to publish jointly
in areas of common interest and share these publications with their respective
memberships. EI’s The WTO and the Millenium Round: What is at stake for
public education? and PSI’s The WTO and the General Agreement on Trade
in Services: What is at stake for public health? will be the first studies
to be issued jointly in the series Briefing notes for current debates on
public sector issues. Learn more about PSI and PSI publications on the
public sector (in English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish) at: http://www.world-psi.org
Education International Magazine highlights public education
An editorial by Fred van Leeuwen, articles on the ILO Conference; school-based
evaluation; women and social security in Latin America; Beijing+5; teachers
and education in India, Kosovo, Palestine, and Bosnia-Herzegovina; a profile
of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson; a 14-page dossier
on Quality Public Education for All with reports from our campaign partners
Oxfam International and ActionAid, and an interview with Svein Osttveit,
newly appointed Executive Secretary of the EFA Forum: all that and more
in this fifteenth issue (since 1993) of the quarterly Education International
Magazine (October 1999, Vol 5 No 3). Subscription: BEF600 a year.
Making Education for Democracy an International Priority
Education International was among the close to 1000 educators and civic
leaders from some 55 countries attending the CIVITAS conference on Making
Education for Democracy an International Priority, 18-21 June 1999 in Palermo,
Italy. Primarily composed of NGOs, CIVITAS International is a worldwide
NGO for civic education which aims to strengthen effective education for
informed and responsible citizenship in new and established democracies
around the world. The conference was addressed by a number of dignitaries
including Italian Minister of Education Luigi Berlinguer, President-elect
of the European Commission Romani Prodi, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, First
Lady of the United States of America. Presentations, panels and workshops
focused each day on specific sub-themes such as Advocating civic education,
Fighting crime and corruption – The Palermo experience, The road to a culture
of lawfulness, and Mounting the campaign for democracy education. For further
details on the contents of the conference and the CIVITAS advocacy campaign:
http://www.civnet.org/civitas/palermo/pl.htm
| BITS AND BYTES |