EI European Regional Committee on violence in Kosovo, the FYR of Macedonia and on the Kosovo-Serbia border.

The EI European Regional Committee has strongly condemned the violence in Kosovo, the FYR (Former Yugoslavia Republic) of Macedonia and in the border areas between Kosovo and Serbia.

Following debate at the Regional Committee's meeting on Monday 19 March, EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen wrote to affiliates expressing grave concern at the violence that is occurring both within Kosova and on the borders between Kosova and Serbia and between Kosova and the FYR of Macedonia. He said that the killing of civilians and police within Serbia and the use of violence to destabilise the FYR of Macedonia are most disturbing.

The Education International European Regional Committee has requested that all EI affiliates in the region, including SBASHK (Union of Education, Science and Culture of Kosova), SONK (Trade Union for Education, Science and culture) in the FYR of Macedonia and ATUESCPCY (Autonomous Trade Union of Education, Science, Culture and Physical Culture Federal Committee) speak out against the current violence and also communicate their position to the relevant national authorities and international intergovernmental organisations. The Committee emphasised that whatever the problems they will never be solved by violence.

In his letter Fred van Leeuwen said that it is EI's position that educators and their organisations have a special responsibility to promote fundamental human rights and the resolution of conflict through education and non-violent means. Educators and their organisations are in a unique position to act collectively, speak out against discrimination and all violence and promote peaceful methods of negotiation and the resolution of conflict.

EI has also written to the European Commission to urge that the Commission take an active and constructive role to halt the violence and help restore an environment of peace where problems are dealt with through the democratic processes.

We have asked that SBASHK take the initiative to promote dialogue with the representatives of Serb and Roma teachers within Kosova and with EI affiliates in the border countries, with the aim of working together and demonstrating how to resolve conflicts through peaceful means. The education unions of Serbia and the FYR of Macedonia also have important responsibilities in ensuring the rights of Albanian pupils, teachers and education support staff within their borders. They have been asked to take the initiative to meet with Albanian teachers in the border areas to discuss the problems they face and how to work together for the elimination of discrimination, quality public education for all children and to promote the non-violent resolution of conflict.

The EI European Regional Committee has pledged its support for such initiatives
 

Mission to Serbia

EI representatives met with our member organisations in Serbia as well as with representatives of new education unions that have formed in the last few years in Serbia. The objective of the visit was to provide a general assessment of the current situation in the country since the new government came to power following elections in December and to present an in-depth analysis as far as education sector is concerned.

The new Serbian Government had only been in power for 10 days when the delegation visited. Understandably things were in turmoil. Many changes are being planned that will have an impact on the education sector both from a union and an educational perspective. Some people from the transition government have been retained but there have been a large number of changes.
 

The economic situation of education  personnel is very difficult with an  average salary in education being DEM107.  Combined with economic hardship both labour law and education reform are high on the agenda of the new government. Education unions will be required to focus on all aspects of the upcoming changes while also working for an improvement in the financial situation of their members.  Re-affiliation of members will need to be done since union pluralism now exists.  Obviously the provision of information to members during this period is critical.

In order to assist EI members to examine the situation, concerning the structure and functioning of the union as well as to establish how the union will organise its participation into the education reform debate, EI will hold a seminar from April 19th to 21st in Belgrade.

The EI delegation, consisting of Anna Ammonn of GEW, Andre Dumont of AOb and Sheena Hanley, EI Deputy General Secretary, visited schools in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis to meet teachers and union representatives in the schools to experience first hand the situation educators face in their work. Meetings were held with the Minister of Labour, the Deputy Minister of Education, the Executive Director of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights as well as the Republic Committee of the Teachers' Union of Serbia, the education sector representatives of Nezavisnost, the President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Serbia and members of the Confederation which includes unions from Montenegro and Serbia.

 A full report of the mission was presented to the EI Executive Board and to the EI Europe Regional Committee.
 

The TUAC Working Group on Education, Training and Labour Market Policies

The TUAC (the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD) Working group on Education, Training and Labour Market Policies, met in Paris on March 7 - 8.  Representatives of both teacher unions and trade union confederation in the OECD countries participated in the meeting.

The main item on the agenda was to prepare the trade union input to the Meeting of Education Ministers in the OECD countries, which will take place in Paris from 2 - 4 April this year. The Working Group agreed on a trade union statement that will be presented to the ministerial meeting. The Working Group also finalised the discussions about a document outlining a trade union vision on the idea of lifelong learning. This document will soon be made available on the TUAC website (http://www.tuac.org)

ASIA-PACIFIC

March for an Educated India- UPDATE

India is experiencing the largest social mobilisation through the Shiksha Yatra (Education March).  The March commenced on January 21, 2001 from Kerala, but due to the devastating earthquake in Gujrat, it was called off.  The March resumed on March 15, 2001 from Bangalore, Karnataka. The education march has produced a number of effective press conferences, leaflets and posters with quotes like, "No single man makes a difference to society, but his humane actions do" and "When child labour we abolish, a nation great we establish". These efforts generated considerable press coverage and government support, including public support from India's Prime Minister.
 
        

URGENT ACTION APPEAL: Earthquake in India  On Friday 26, January a devastating earthquake flattened two cities and numerous villages in India's western Gujrat state.  The disaster killed at least 20,000 people, but estimates on the final death toll from the 7.9 magnitude quake could rise to at lest 50,000 (Red Cross estimate).  The two cities destroyed have high populations: Bhuj with 150,000 and Anjar with 80,000 inhabitants.  Two hundred thousand people are reported to be homeless. According to the information we have already received from the All India Primary Teachers' Federation (AIPTF), casualties are high amongst the students and teachers, in particular in the Bhuj and Hutch Districts where school buildings were destroyed.  The All India Federation of Teachers Organisations (AIFTO) has set up an earthquake relief committee to organise relief work for the victims at Gujrat.  On January 30 the committee organised a mass blood donation camp at Ahmedabad, the main city in the state. EI Chief Regional Co-ordinator, Aloysuis Mathews, is expected to gather more information about the destruction from EI affiliates in India, but there is no doubt about the urgent need for financial assistance to help relieve the victims.  We appeal to all member organisations to send their donations to the EI solidarity Fund to demonstrate their solidarity with their Indian colleagues who have been struck by this disaster. Bank Account No.: 310-1006170-75, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, 157 Bd Anspach, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Regional Committee Meeting

The Education International Asia Pacific Regional Committee met in Kuala Lumpur on 12 and 13 March 2001. Fourteen Committee members out of the seventeen attended the meeting. The meeting discussed the activities undertaken by the EI in the region from April 2000 to March 2001.

The meeting welcomed the decision of the Fiji High Court to uphold the 1997 constitution and congratulated the Fijian Teachers' Union and Fiji Teachers' Association on their joint programme to bring peace and reconciliation among teachers, children and local communities.

The committee condemned the destruction of the world heritage in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban government to immediately stop the process and safeguard the heritage for future generation.
The meeting strongly censured the attempts in Japan to justify and distort its history of aggression in the school textbooks by some far-right organisations and called on the Japanese government to take appropriate measures to deal with the distortion. The meeting called on the EI and its affiliates to send written protests to the Japanese government urging it to stop the distortion of history.

The committee discussed the impact of the EI Congress Assistance policy based on GNP for the organisations applying for assistance to attend the Congress. It concluded that a number of organisations in the region would not be able to attend the World Congress due to financial difficulties. It urged the EI Executive Board to consider these matters and make appropriate arrangements to ensure that all organisations attend the EI World Congress in Kathmandu.
 

China's Tragedy

In response to explosion at a school in Fanglin, China, EI issued the following letter to China's President Jiang Zemin:
 

Dear President Jiang,

Education International is deeply shocked by the information that some 60 people, most of whom were children, were killed by an explosion in a school building in the village of Fanglin in Jiangxi province.  The Fact that eight and nine year old pupils were inserting fuses into fireworks in their classroom is a violation of the rights of the child and amounts to systematic exploitation of children. This was not only known, but actually organised by persons holding official responsibilities is inconceivable.

Information in the international media indicates that this is not an isolated case of the exploitation of children in China and that a substantial number of children are working in a range of hazardous occupations.

The events in Fanglin represent a grave violation of the rights of children under Conventions 138 and 182 of the ILO, as well as the UN Convention the Rights of the Child.  These instruments provide the only truly effective means to ensure that tragic events such as this do not happen.  These standards must be applied universally and in this respect, China's refusal to accept provision 8(a) of the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights is all the more disturbing.  We call upon the government of China to take all necessary measures to ensure the full implementation of the rights of the child as well as all human rights.

Education International offers sincere condolences to the parents and relatives who have suffered such terrible loss. We can only hope that the death of these children will lead to comprehensive action on the part of the Chinese authorities to ensure that all children in China receive free, quality education and that they are not forced to work as child labourers as part of their education.

AFRICA

Communication and Skills Seminar

A seminar on Research and Communication Skills was held between 4 – 10 February 2001 which brought together 26 participants representing KNUT (Kenya), KUDHEIHA (Kenya), UTA (Uganda), NUEI (Uganda) and TTU (Tanzania) from East Africa. There were local resource persons as well as a resource person from the EI Africa office.
 

Poverty Alleviation for Education for All

Between the 15 – 19 January 2001 a seminar on the theme “Poverty Alleviation for Education for All” was held. Apart from Education International, ILO, UNESCO, the World Bank, FESER (Cameroon), SET (Chad), SYECO, FENESCU, FENECO (RDC), SEP and other EER (Rwanda), FSEC (Central Africa Republic), STEB (Burundi), SINPRESTEP (Sao Tome & Principe) and the organisation hosting the seminar SENA (Gabon) took part in this meeting whose outcomes were beyond expectations.
 

Womens' leadership Seminar

A Womens' leadership Seminar will be held in Gabon between 19-22 March for women leaders from FESER (Cameroon), FSEC (Central Africa Republic), SET (Chad) and SENA (Gabon).
 

Human and Trade Union Rights

Between the 26th March to 04th April 2001 Rosslyn Noonan and Samuel Ngoua Ngou co-ordinators of Human and Trade Union Rights respectively at the Headquarters in Brussels and EI Regional Office in Lomé will visit EI affiliates in Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central Africa Republic, countries where teachers are facing great difficulties in respect of their conditions of work and welfare.
 

Health and HIV/STI Workshop

A workshop on Health & HIV/STI Prevention in Southern Africa was held in Gaborone (Botswana) from 26 February to 3 March. Organised by Education International (EI) in collaboration with WHO, EDC (Education Development Centre, USA) and CDC (Centre for Disease Control, USA) and with the participation of UNICEF and the World Bank. This meeting gathered, for the first time, representatives from EI affiliates in the Southern African region with representatives of Ministries of Education and Health. One of the main objectives was to enable teacher trade union leaders, their constituencies and teachers to acquire the skills they need to prevent further spread of HIV/STI, help others avoid infection, reduce related discrimination and confront stigma related to HIV infection in the education system. The purpose was to finalise the development of action plans on school health and HIV/STI prevention in Southern Africa. Invited to develop partnerships with the unions, the representatives of the different ministries supported the initiative and contributed to the elaboration of the proposals, to be carried out at the national level in April 2001.

This workshop also provided the opportunity for presenting and using the new EI/WHO Training and Resource Manual on School Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention. The manual was designed with EI affiliates through different seminars held in 1999 and 2000 and prepared by the health and human development programs at EDC. It was very well received by all the participants who considered it a unique tool, in particular, for teacher training.
 

John Thompson Fellowship Program in Southern Africa

Following programs in Francophone Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, the John Thompson Fellowship Program continued in Southern Africa.  EI affiliates from UTA (Uganda), SNAT (Swaziland), LAT (Lesotho), MUT (Malawi) and SADTU (South Africa) participated in the three-week program held in Magaliesberg near Johannesburg, which was facilitated by CTF, Lärarförbundet, SADTU and EI.  The intensive training included areas such as human and trade union rights, strategic planning, membership recruitment, managing union finances, and negotiations.  The core of the program was to develop a vision and strategic plan for the unions in the future.  The participants also had the opportunity to visit SADTU’s local structures. The overall impact will be reflected in the coming years in the national action programs developed by each union involved.  The John Thompson Fellowship Program in Southern Africa has set yet another fine example of comprehensive leadership training.
 

Farewell to Ambrose Adongo

It is with great sadness that EI learned of the death of Ambrose Adongo. EI is familiar with his great contribution to the work of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) over such a long period.  It is also right to record his major contribution to the international teachers' movement.

He served with distinction as Vice-President of the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) from 1980 to 1984 and has been a source of great strength in Education International since its creation in 1993. I know that his contribution to the African regions of both bodies was widely appreciated.

He was, in every way, a "big man". In recent years, we well recall his opposition to interference of the International Monetary Fund in the internal affairs of Kenya, aimed at preventing improvements to teachers' conditions negotiated with the government.

EI wishes to pass on to his family and KNUT our deepest sympathies and our appreciation of Ambrose's lifetime of service.
 
 

NORTH AMERICA / CARIBBEAN

Mission to CNEH, Haiti

From 11-17 February 2001, an EI delegation made up of CSQ, CTF, SNES, and EI visited CNEH, the EI affiliate in Haiti.  The purpose of the visit was to analyse the past co-operation and develop a programme of co-operation in the coming years.

The Haiti teacher union works in difficult circumstances.  Aristide's return in 1994 did not bring the needed democratic changes.  His recent re-election as president is no guarantee that the government will involve the teacher union in working out a plan for intensive investment in the education sector.  No more than 20% of the schools are publicly funded, resulting in the massive exclusion of a large section of the population. Teachers are underpaid and schools are overcrowded.

The union faces tremendous organisational challenges.  Meeting the membership, collecting the dues, organising membership training programmes, and defending the interests of the teachers and the education sector, all these tasks have to be carried out in a political environment hostile to trade unionism. CNEH is fighting an uphill battle, together with its co-operating partners.
 
 

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

Fond-farewell to Rosslyn Noonan Leaves Human Rights Co-ordinator Vacancy

Soon EI will bid a fond-farewell to Rosslyn Noonan, EI's Human Rights Co-ordinator. She has been appointed New Zealand's Chief Commissioner for Human Rights.  EI is now searching for her replacement. For more information on the open position please see the EI web site. Applications must be submitted by the end of April.
 

Workers' Memorial Day, April 28, 2001

Over 1.2 million workers continue to die each year due to unsustainable forms of production. Approximately 335,000 of these deaths result from occupational accidents, 12,000 of which claim the lives of children. Another 325,000 are due to occupational disease.  Countries where trade union rights are least respected tend to be those where workplace death and injuries are the highest.  In 1998 alone, 123 trade unionists were murdered, 1,650 attacked or injured, 3660 arrested and 21,427 were fired for trade unionist activities. This year's theme is Safe and Sustainable Workplaces for All Workers. The international ceremony is to take place in Melbourne, Australia.  Organisations are encouraged to observe the international holiday with events, meeting, press releases, leaflets, etc…  For more information please see www.icftu.org.
 

Request for Photos

Show us your Global Action Week activities!  If your organisation is planning actives please don't forget to take pictures. Send your action photos to EI headquarters in Brussels, Belgium for publication in the next edition of the EI magazine.  Please have your photos post-marked by May 1st, 2001 to the attention of the Information Department. Thank you and Good luck!
 
 
 

Publications

Trade Unions of the World: 2001 covers "every independent country in the world" and contains information on the history, organisation and political and industrial influence of trade unions in each country, including data on trade union centres, their character, membership, policies, and affiliates.  The book costs £63 (63 pounds sterling) including delivery. To place an advance order simply reply to the e-mail listed with your name, name of organisation, address and a contact phone number, Alternatively you can order a copy by phone by +44 (0) 1462 488 900 E-mail jhpublish@aol.com
 
 

OneWorld was pleased to announce the launch of www.learningchannel.org  - the global portal promoting quality education for all. The site aims to publicise the best initiatives in education, and makes the case for education spending as a key development priority. LearningChannel.org will be edited from OneWorld South Asia in New Delhi. By launching this new single-issue portal, OneWorld aims to give organisations greater opportunities to promote important issues to audiences interested in education.

The Intertok Federation presents a new web site on the project of human promotion of Tokombéré, in North-Cameroun. For the past twenty years the project has been a partnership between village communities of Cameroun North and various associations in France, visit: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/intertok/ Tokombéré
 
 
 

EI CALENDAR 2001 MARCH 7-8 TUAC Working Group on Education, Training, and Employment International  8 Women’s Day 12-16 EI Mission to Ethiopia 15-16 EI/Europe Higher Education and Research Standing Committee Meeting Berlin, Germany 19 EI European Committee Meeting - Brussels, Belgium  19  EIE Conference on Quality Public Education for All – Brussels, Belgium 21 UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 27 EI Status of Women's Committee - Brussels, Belgium 27 EI Officers Meeting – Brussels, Belgium 27-28 PSI meeting on Public Services, Geneva – Switzerland 28-30 EI Executive Board Meeting- Brussels, Belgium APRIL 2-4  Meeting of Education Ministers from OECD member countries – Paris, France 2-7  Global Action Week for Education  3-7 ICFTU/ORIT XV Continental Congress, “Decent Jobs, Strong Unions, Just Societies”- Washington D.C., USA  7 World Health Day (WHO) 28 Workers' Memorial Day MAY 3-4  TUAC-OECD 106th TUAC Plenary Session – Paris, France  5-11 EI Education Pacific Round Table – Nadi, Fiji 8-9  TUAC Working Group on Economic Policy – Paris, France 15-16 EI Officers meeting – Brussels, Belgium 15-16 EI/IE Equality Committee Meeting – Brussels, Belgium 23-24  ICFTU-AFRO 23rd Congress - Nairobi, Kenya 30 EI European Regional Conference – Luxembourg 29-30 ETUCE General Assembly – Luxembourg JUNE  5 UN World Environment Day 5-21 ILO General Conference – Geneva, Switzerland JULY 16-18 EI African Womens' Round Table 19-21 EI Pan African Conference 21-23 EI Asian Womens' Round Table 25-29 Third Education International World Congress –Kathmandu, Nepal SEPTEMBER 19-21 UKFIET "Oxford" International Conference on Education and Development - Oxford, UK 31-7/9 UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance - South Africa