Ei-iE

Jens Kalaene
Jens Kalaene

Equity and inclusion

We defend and promote the principles of equity and equality in education, in education unions and in society. We are fully committed to combating all forms of racism and of bias or discrimination due age, disability, ethnicity or indigeneity, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, language, marital status, migratory status, political activism, religion, socio-economic status, trade union affiliation, among others. We are committed to addressing these forms of discrimination through an intersectional lens, which enables a deeper understanding of the complexities of lived experiences.

I think Education International has a leadership role to play… If we’re going to have a more civil society, a more inclusive society, then we have to model that by including men but women as well, people of different ethnic groups or religious backgrounds. All of us have to be involved and be at the table and have that kind of respect.

Professor Mary Hatwood Futrell, First elected EI President, 1993–2004

Promoting and advancing gender equality has always been an Education International priority. We believe that education can play a key role in empowering women and girls and can contribute to breaking through the cycle of gender discrimination. The Education International Gender Equality Action Plan highlights three main priorities:

  1. Promoting women’s leadership and participation within education unions;
  2. Taking action to increase intersectional gender equality in and through education;
  3. Promoting and securing women’s economic empowerment.

The unequal and gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic risks erasing years of progress on equity and inclusion throughout the world. Together with our member organisations, we mobilise to challenge and help dismantle all structures of inequality in education and beyond. As part of this work, we have called for equity audits to be conducted at all levels of education in order to ensure the pandemic does not define the lives of an entire generation of students.

Our work in this area

  1. Statements 29 October 2020

    Statement | Global Day of Action for Care

    Unions and civil society mobilising to demand investments in care for building more inclusive, accessible, resilient, and caring economies.

    Statement | Global Day of Action for Care
  2. Research

    Teaching with Tech: The role of education unions in shaping the future

    Christina J. Colclough
    27 October 2020

    The Future of Work is not just making the headlines - it has become an issue of increasing importance for students, teachers and the whole of society. While there is always an element of anticipatory anxiety when facing the future there has also been real concern about the arrival of...

    Teaching with Tech: The role of education unions in shaping the future
    1. Report
    2. Summary
  3. Research

    The bedrock of inclusion: why investing in the education workforce is critical to the delivery of SDG4

    26 October 2020

    This report summarises lessons and recommendations from a multi-country study undertaken on behalf of ActionAid, Education International and Light for the World. The study looked at the current state of play, and the realistic requirements for investing in an education workforce that can support disability-inclusive education systems in Ethiopia, Malawi,...

    The bedrock of inclusion: why investing in the education workforce is critical to the delivery of SDG4
    1. The bedrock of inclusion
    2. Ethiopia study
    3. Malawi study
    4. Mozambique study (English)
    5. Mozambique study (Portuguese)
    6. Nigeria study
  4. News 26 October 2020

    Global Day of Action for Care: Education unions join global call for increased investment in the care sector

    On 29 October, the Global Day of Action for Care, Education International will join in the global trade union call for decent working conditions and fair pay for care workers. This global call recognises the enormous contribution to society being made by workers across the health, care, and education sectors,...

    Global Day of Action for Care: Education unions join global call for increased investment in the care sector
  5. Statements 11 October 2020

    Statement | International Coming Out Day

    It’s International Coming Out Day! In celebration, the Council of Global Unions is releasing our LGBTI website to share the work of Global Unions promoting LGBTI rights at work at national, regional and international levels.

    Statement | International Coming Out Day
  6. News 28 August 2020

    United States: AFT mobilises for 28 August March on Washington

    Many thousands of people are marching in Washington, DC in the “Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks”. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), several other trade unions as well as civil rights and other civil society organisations are mobilising to bring attention to systemic racism, the need for...

    United States: AFT mobilises for 28 August March on Washington
  7. News 27 July 2020

    Public education – critical for preserving indigenous languages and cultures

    EI’s Mexican member SNTE presented the Los Pinos Declaration at a virtual seminar on 15 July. It is the final document of the event that closes the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019, held on 27-28 February 2020 in Mexico City.

    Public education – critical for preserving indigenous languages and cultures
  8. Research

    EI/AOb Child Labour Projects | Transnational Best Practices and Union Impacts

    Nora Wintour
    30 June 2020

    For the last two decades, EI and its affiliates, Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb/the Netherlands) and Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW/Germany), through the Fair Childhood Foundation, have supported projects to reduce school dropout rates and child labour and to contribute to the development of child labour-free zones in over 13 countries on...

    EI/AOb Child Labour Projects | Transnational Best Practices and Union Impacts
    1. Download
  9. Worlds of Education 20 June 2020

    "Overlapping crises: the impact of Covid-19 on refugee students in Lebanon", by Hussain Muhammad Jawad

    Hussain Muhammad Jawad

    Lebanon is a country with a population of 4.5 million and is home to a large number of refugees. Over two million Syrian refugees are now living in Lebanon, in addition to half a million of Palestinian refugees. More than 52% of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are children, and...

    "Overlapping crises: the impact of Covid-19 on refugee students in Lebanon", by Hussain Muhammad Jawad
  10. Statements 20 June 2020

    Statement | World Refugee Day 2020

    COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities and structural inequities of our societies. The most vulnerable, amongst them refugee and displaced populations, have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown measures.

    Statement | World Refugee Day 2020
  11. News 19 June 2020

    Lessons from union programme against gender-based violence essential during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Alarming reports of an exponential increase of gender-based violence have emerged from all regions of the world, since full or partial lockdowns were imposed in most countries over the last three months in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Education unions have mobilised to combat this worrying trend.

    Lessons from union programme against gender-based violence essential during the Covid-19 pandemic
  12. Worlds of Education 12 June 2020

    “Preparing for a post-COVID-19 world and working to prevent student dropout: good union practices in the fight against child labour”, by Samuel Grumiau and Pedi Anawi.

    Pedi Anawi, Samuel Grumiau

    According to the ILO, there are over 150 million child labourers worldwide. Conscious of this challenge and keen to promote the right to a quality education for all, EI members in thirteen countries have initiated programmes to eradicate child labour with the support of EI and its partners. While there...

    “Preparing for a post-COVID-19 world and working to prevent student dropout: good union practices in the fight against child labour”, by Samuel Grumiau and Pedi Anawi.
  13. Worlds of Education 12 June 2020

    “Getting children back to school after the COVID-19 closures: how EI's child labour projects empowered teachers and their unions”, by Nora Wintour.

    Nora Wintour

    In the research study, conducted in 2018 and 2019 “EI/AOb Child Labour Projects: Transnational best practices and union impacts”, I examined how professional training programmes have enhanced teachers capacity to attract and retain children in school through participatory education techniques and how as a result of the child labour projects,...

    “Getting children back to school after the COVID-19 closures: how EI's child labour projects empowered teachers and their unions”, by Nora Wintour.
  14. Worlds of Education 12 June 2020

    Interview | Susan Hopgood: “In the fight against child labour the key to progress is to involve unions”.

    Susan Hopgood

    On the World Day Against Child Labour, Education International President Susan Hopgood gives insights into the work of education unions to eradicate child labour, the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on vulnerable children, the lessons we have learned from previous crises and the way forward.

    Interview | Susan Hopgood: “In the fight against child labour the key to progress is to involve unions”.
  15. News 12 June 2020

    Educators against child labour: best practices to help eradicate child labour post Covid-19

    On the World Day Against Child Labour, Education International launches a report documenting best practices identified in its projects against child labour. With Covid-19 set to increase the number of child labourers, these lessons are essential to future efforts to ensure all children are in school, not in work.

    Educators against child labour: best practices to help eradicate child labour post Covid-19
  16. Worlds of Education 4 June 2020

    “Enhancing the status of female dominated occupations”, by Pauline Schnegg.

    Pauline Schnegg

    The Greek god Kairos represents an opportunity to be seized in the guise of a young man who is naked, but sports a tuft of hair on his head. When he comes within our reach, one of three things can happen: we do not see him; we see him but...

    “Enhancing the status of female dominated occupations”, by Pauline Schnegg.
  17. News 2 June 2020

    Cameroon: the resumption of face-to-face classes without proper preliminary planning endangers teachers and students alike

    Organised teachers in Cameroon have warned the government that a resumption of classes on 1 June carried out without sufficient preliminary planning would put the educational community in danger. They have especially insisted on reduced class sizes and the provision of masks and hand sanitizer.

    Cameroon: the resumption of face-to-face classes without proper preliminary planning endangers teachers and students alike