Ei-iE

At a time when French-speaking countries are experiencing serious shortages of teachers and education support personnel, threatening to affect their development, the CSFEF (Francophone Trade Union Committee for Education and Training), Education International’s (EI) network of French-speaking member organisations, must engage and assume its full and rightful place within the global education trade union movement. This was the key message to emerge from the CSFEF meeting held in the run-up to the 10th EI World Congress.

Statement for the 19th Francophonie Summit

The response of the CSFEF delegates ahead of the 19th Summit of the Francophonie to be held in France in October 2024 under the banner “Create, innovate, undertake in French”, was clear: “This can be achieved, but not without education and training!”

For the CSFEF, “Quality education and training in French are, indisputably, essential conditions for achieving these aims. For French-speaking countries to be able to create, innovate and do business in French, they must have education systems that not only provide a good education for all pupils but also offer affordable, high-quality vocational and technical training and adult education programmes.”

The statement also notes that “all French-speaking countries, be it in the North or the South, are confronted with teacher and education staff shortages that threaten to have disastrous consequences for the development of our countries”.

During the Francophonie Summit, the CSFEF will therefore call on the governments of French-speaking countries “to implement the 59 landmark recommendations of the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, to end the global shortage of teachers, which is mainly due to the underfunding of public education, and to strengthen the teaching profession”.

Stepping up the “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign

The firm resolve to engage in EI’s “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign also emerged from the discussions within the CSFEF.

This campaign is an urgent call for governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and a public good, and to invest more in teachers, the key to achieving quality education.

The French-speaking delegates heard examples of successful campaigns for greater investment in public education and educators in Cameroon and Romania.

Adoption of the 2024-2028 strategic guidelines

In the context of the erosion of trade union freedoms in many countries, particularly under authoritarian governments and in armed conflict zones, the CSFEF has based its strategic guidelines for the next four years on four priority areas and has undertaken to:

• Promote French-speaking trade unions and training for members;
• Support public education and education staff;
• Fight the commercialisation of education and promote free access to education; and
• Ensure the continuity and influence of the CSFEF, its activities and its representation in international organisations (including the International Organisation of La Francophonie – OIF).

Election of the new CSFEF Executive Board

The delegates then proceeded to elect:

• Chair: Claire Guéville, national secretary in charge of the lycée sector, SNES-FSU (Syndicat National des Enseignements de Second Degré - Fédération Syndicale Unitaire), France.
• General secretary: Luc Beauregard, secretary-treasurer of the CSQ (Centrale des Syndicats du Québec), Canada.
• Treasurer: Brigitte Bergeron, director of the Francophonie Program at the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE).

A moving tribute was also paid to outgoing CSQ general secretary Luc Allaire, who has served the international French-speaking teacher union movement for ten years.

The CSFEF, a powerful tool for trade union unity at global level

In her closing remarks, the chair referred to the second edition of the women’s meeting, held prior to the CSFEF meeting, underlining that: “When women win rights, everyone wins rights! We have almost achieved parity in terms of participation in this meeting.”

She described the meeting as “a success in terms of the quality of the discussions and the wealth of our face-to-face interactions, which can never be replaced by virtual meetings. It has enriched our trade unionist approach to issues, our demands and mobilisation.”

The CSFEF, she added, is a way of giving momentum to French-speaking teacher trade unionists to fight against the disorders of the world and to ensure that education, training and trade unionism are the weapons we use against democratic disorder, based on exchange, dialogue, and also mobilisation.

Lastly, Ms Guéville concluded, “Within the CSFEF, we clearly see the things that set us apart, but the things that unite us are much stronger than the things that divide us and risk pitting us against each other. Long live the French-speaking committee and international trade unionism!”