Since its 5th Congress, conducted in Caracas in July 1998, and the 7th Congress of the WCT, held in Kuala Lumpur in August 1998, the FLATEC has concentrated its action on the following
Aims
- to strengthen the presence of the FLATEC in the discussion on education in Latin America;
- to strengthen the regional presence of the FLATEC in supporting the member and fraternal organisations;
- to advance capacity building nation- and worldwide;
- to advance the growth of the IPLAC as instrument of the FLATEC for teachers’ training;
- to advance the educational and cultural integration processes in the subregions;
- to take an active part in the renovation of the CLAT;
- to contribute to the restructuring of the Universidad de los Trabajadores de América Latina (UTAL) from the perspective of the educators through technical support from the IPLAC;
- to strengthen its participation in the political action of the WCT.
At the supranational level
- to co-ordinate the subregional activities, favouring the communication between the organisations;
- to organise one event a year in each subregion;
- to contribute to the debate of the workers’ movement by including the theme of education, particularly in the activities and meetings of the whole workers’ movement;
- to strengthen the relations with the intergovernmental bodies by advancing a policy of rapprochement and exchange with the UNESCO, the ILO, the IBE, etc;
- to take part in the activities of the WCT by advancing the recognition of the FLATEC and its affiliates;
- in general, to obtain more updated and detailed information from the organisations and to intensify the follow-up of and informationon their activities.
IPLAC
- The IPLAC, being a technical body, will co-ordinate the trade union, pedagogic and technical training of the educators and their leaders.
- The IPLAC will advance the exchanges with universities and with governmental and non-governmental organisations by favouring the exchanges of information and cultural activities.
- It will also advance the exchange of information between the organisations, giving precedence to trade union and pedagogic information.
- It will advance, further, the sensitisation on theme of the WCT Congress 2002 – Teacher, Education Professional and Actor of Social Inclusion – and on its subthemes: Education for All, Multicultural Education, Equal Opportunities, Education of Youths with Difficulties, Education against Dualisation, Quality of Education, Education and Social Inclusion, Situation of the Profession as a Teacher, a Worker and a Social Actor.
- It will advance the further self-financing of the FLATEC.
Actions accomplished
Actions were accomplished at various levels:
1) trade union demands – the FLATEC was present in disputes in which the education workers found their rights in jeopardy. We coached struggles of teachers from Latin America and the Caribbean. In this connection the FLATEC filed three complaints with the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, demanding respect for the freedom of association in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Argentina;
2) training – annual subregional seminars were staged in Central America, the Andean Zone and the Southern Cone, thus responding to the political and training needs of educators and their organisations. Over 300 leaders took part in these events;
3) relations with international bodies – the FLATEC attended two conferences of the International Labour Organisations as well as seminars of the UNESCO. At present, it is consulted by the Latin America Office of the UNESCO. Moreover, the FLATEC took an active part in the struggle against capitalist globalisation at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre and against the FTAA at the Summit of the American Peoples in Quebec;
4) training – the creation and development of the IPLAC equipped the Latin American teachers with a new schooling and training instrument. The IPLAC indeed co-ordinated the training activities of the FLATEC by staging several political and training seminars. It concluded agreements with the universities in Argentina and with the University of Salamanca in Spain. It organised with support from the UNESCO a first distance training course for leaders of teachers’ federations from Latin America and the Caribbean. A distance training plan for educations is being developed, which includes two ambitious projects: a plan for distance training from educations from Latin America and the Caribbean, and an Alternative Education Project. Furthermore, an inquiry into the place of education in the Latin American national constitutions is being developed, and a report on university education and human development in Latin America and the Caribbean is being drawn up. The IPLAC has set up a standing group of young research workers and teachers who undertake activities in their respective fields;
5) publications – the FLATEC constantly updates its website www.flatec.org. It also publishes three-monthly information bulletins, which provide updated information on the activities of the FLATEC and are mailed to over 2000 addresses of teachers and organisations worldwide. The FLATEC also published three volumes in the series Education and Society: MALEDUCATION (on dominated education and educated domination), VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION and the REPORT ON EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN;
6) teachers’ unity – the FLATEC intensively pursues unity actions in the subregions, their theme being Towards Trade Union Unity of Teachers, Starting From Our Entity;
7) the CLAT – the FLATEC takes an active part in the activities of the Central Lationoamericana de Trabajadors, on whose Executive Committee and Latin American Council it sits; it is fully aware of the fact that the workers’ problems will be solved only with the whole of the Latin American and Caribbean workers;
8) the WCT – the FLATEC considers the international trade union action of teachers to be strategic; it joins the WCT in the development of its political aims and activities, advancing the spaces for discussion from asymmetries to the pursuit of a common course for teachers worldwide.
This action met with a lot of difficulties, of course, particularly of a financial nature. Nevertheless, the FLATEC managed to overcome these difficulties thanks to the support from the organisations and the militant commitment of their leaders.
The FLATEC will take up the new challenges proceeding from this WCT Congress, aware of our strong and weak points and within an action in favour of education, the teachers and their organisations.
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