Resolution on teachers and teaching in Asia
1. The 3rd Congress of the Asian Confederation of Teachers (ACT), meeting in Bangkok, Thailand from 28th May through 2nd June 2002
a) Aware that while some Asian economies have pulled through lean times and are buoyant again, some others, especially in the South Asian region, due mainly to internal strife or border conflicts, have still not reduced the extent of poverty in their lands nor are economically on the upswing
b) Further aware that globalization continues to make the rich richer and the poor poorer in their countries causing steadily increasing costs of living, unemployment and a greater shift of labour to the informal sector
c) Notes that these negative situations impinge adversely on the educational systems in the countries and impacts heavily on the education of the children of the less privileged, often denying them the basic rights of an education at least to age 14
d) Further notes that though governments of the various countries have development and improvement of education plans, projects and programmes, their implementation is heavily impeded by lack of country-generated funds and the will and determination to move the monolithic systems of education which are state sectors
e) Observes that teachers and professionals in the educational systems do not as yet get the status, respect and remuneration due to them, thus often drawing the less skilled who often lack dedication and commitment to the profession
f) Concludes this is a major drawback to any attempts to improve the educational systems and give students an education that would adequately prepare them for the challenges ahead
g) Noting with perturbation that many countries have not granted the right to teachers to unite in trade unions nor to bargain collectively
2. The Asian Confederation of Teachers (ACT) deeply concerned at this Congress :
a) Expresses its deep concern that in spite of earlier calls for the implementation of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendations on the Status of Teachers (1996) by State Governments, this has not been effected in the majority of Asian countries and that standards of education are far below what they should be
b) Expresses concern over the situation of children in schools who are either pushed too hard in their education due to the presumption of parents that a higher education has to be obtained, or are presented with no alternative to higher education in a university through the paucity of avenues of further education and vocational training
c) Expresses concern over the situation of teachers who may lack training in
educational methodology and /or child psychology and have to contend with large number of students in their classes
d) Cognizant of the fact of the great disparity that exists in the treatment of women as equal partners in the education profession, in spite of there being more woman teachers in most of the Asian countries, thus undermining their contribution to education as a whole in their countries
3. The ACT strongly advocates that
a) Asian governments, taking note of all the situations/constraints/negatives mentioned herein, should
§ Pay particular attention to making available new technologies for learning and teaching; thus bridging the gap between education in rich and poor countries; and reducing, as far as possible, the disparity between rural and urban schools
§ Boost the position and morale of teachers by paying them better; allowing their unionization; training and retraining them; and eliminating all gender bias
§ Pay greater attention to vocational training and equipping school children to move into some means of employment once they leave school
§ Also matching the availability of avenues of employment to the outflow from universities and colleges of higher studies
4. The ACT insists that
a) Legislation be passed and enforced so that teachers enjoy benefits, which are their rights, as stated in UNESCO and ILO Recommendations, such that teachers will enjoy security of service, good conditions in schools, adequate remuneration so they treat their job of teaching as a vocation and dedicate themselves to nurturing and guiding the children in their care to growing and developing to be good persons and thus good citizens
b) Teachers are granted a more significant role to play in policy making and decision taking on educational matters, without politicians and senior bureaucrats being the only empowered persons to make changes in the education systems
c) That governments of Asian countries, particularly those with poverty on their hands and sluggish economies, do not cut back on expenditure on education, but rather increase the facilities offered both teachers and students.
Resolution
5. This ACT Congress reiterates and resolves to meet the collective commitment for education for all and restates the following goals specially in connection with Asian conditions.
Ø Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged of children.
Ø Ensuring that all children, with special emphasis on girls, - including the poorest, working children and children with special needs complete a good quality primary education by 2015.
Ø Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.
Ø Providing equitable access to basic and continuing education programmes for adults, and achieving at least 50% reduction in current gender disparities within a decade .
Ø Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 as a milestone towards achieving gender equality in education programmes, institutions and systems by 2015.
Ø Improving all aspects of the quality of education so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved, especially in literacy, numeracy , and essential life skills.
Resolution on Africa
Africa is generally confronted with a crisis which has been going on for three decades. Very profound and distant, it is linked both to internal and external factors. This crisis is linked to the crisis of raw materials, the debt burden, poor political choices, drying up of sources of finance; all things that have provoked the negligence of the remuneration and working and living conditions of the African teacher. Yet, the latter has a central role to play in the preparation of young generations in order to contribute to the realisation of the experience in which the 3rd millennium will witness a world that is socially more just, more tolerant and more peaceful at the time when national decision-makers and Society in general are increasingly aware of the relevance of education in man’s life. The only thing is that, if we consider the current profile of the teaching profession in Africa, it can be doubted that African teachers are actually in a better position.
The diverse developments of the present world show to what extent education is indispensable for ‘’learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together ’’.
All things which contribute to the definition of an honourable, respectful and responsible life for the human being.
Unfortunately, in Africa, the teacher, owing to the poor treatment and lack of training to which he is subjected at all levels, feels powerless in the face of the new Education requirements.
Resolutions
1) Education and Training
- Considering that there is no precise and strategic orientation of Education in Africa;
- Considering the difficulties in making an objective assessment of the quality of education based on exam results;
- Considering that it is through education that the socioprofessional integration is well achieved today;
- In view of the objectives of Education For All by 2015 ;
The trade union organisations within the PAFETTU reaffirm their support for :
· The promotion of basic education for all and the improvement of the quality of education at all levels;
· The promotion of an adequate professional training, the reinforcement of the literacy campaign and non-formal education;
· the increase in school infrastructure and greater access;
· free basic education and more attention paid to adult basic education and training as well as early childhood development
2) New Information and Communication Technologies
- Considering that the resort to new Information and Communication Technologies in classrooms in the near and distant future will lead to different ways of teaching by teachers and different ways of learning by pupils;
- In view of the poor integration of new Information and Communication Technologies in the educational system;
The PAFETTU undertakes to work so that :
· Technology can also be at the service of knowledge in Africa and without any discrimination .
· Technological skills of all teachers can be developed by the trade unions which should :
Ø lead to the conclusion, with education employees, of agreements providing for the training of teachers in New Information and Communication Technologies;
Ø sensitise and bring together Civil Society Organisations to give a human face to this technological revolution.
3) Gender and Development
- Considering that women who represent over half of the African population are victims of discrimination and injustice.
- Considering that they have an inferior status and that their role, both at the level of production and reproduction, is belittled
- Considering that most of the work done by African women is quasi invisible and is not taken into account either by economists or by statisticians because it is considered to be obvious and part of women’s natural destiny;
- Considering that the underestimation of women neither benefits the men or the Society;
- Considering that to promote gender equality is to work for Africa’s development;
The PAFETTU is resolved to:
· support actions which are aimed at improving the situation of women;
· undertake a sensitisation campaign to ensure that certain changes are necessarily made both in our minds and our behaviour;
· improve the representation of women within trade union organisations by encouraging women to occupy positions of responsibility;
· combat all forms of discrimination against women;
· make known that the fundamental rights of women and girls are inalienably, fully and indissolubly linked to the universal human rights;
· make an appeal in favour of the equality of opportunity between man and woman, a guarantee of lasting peace and harmonious development.
4) HIV / AIDS
Considering that:
- the Aids pandemic has caused several million orphans and that 95% of orphans suffering from Aids throughout the world live in Africa;
- a large number of teachers are dying of Aids;
- the lack of teachers is threatening African countries;
- the productivity of Aids patients and their effectiveness in the classrooms diminishes as the body succumbs to the disease;
- HIV /AIDS is causing severe losses among the African populations and that the pandemic has exceeded control limits in several sub-Saharan African countries;
- women and girls are at risk, victims and have been made vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because of the prevailing gender imbalance and cultural beliefs which favour the men;
- the children in Africa can be deprived of quality education because of teachers who are HIV positive and the death rate of teachers who are victims of HIV/AIDS;
The PAFETTU:
· invites all trade union organisations to contribute and promote the fight against HIV/AIDS;
· appeals to development partners with a view to reinforcing the fight against STDs and HIV/AIDS in schools;
· requests Governments to support units set up to combat STDs and HIV/AIDS in schools;
· undertakes to intensify, through its activities, the sensitisation campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Resolution on the situation of Education workers in Latin-America and the Caribbean
The 8th World Congress of the World Confederation of Teachers, gathered in Albena / Bulgaria in July, 2002 poses that:
WHEREAS:
1- Latin-America and the Caribbean sadly hold the privilege to be the regions where the world´s biggest social inequalities lie and where exploitation, poverty and alienation constantly grow.
2- The heavy burden of foreign indebtedness and all the conditions generated by the international finance community´s greediness prevent regional administrations from developing policies of inclusion, which are capable of changing the present situation, risking the essence of democracy itself by exclusively reducing it to its formal aspects.
3- In view of the mentioned conditions and their many times blameable acceptance by administrations, the use of neo-liberal policies has widespread, with their logic consequences: the strong degradation of quality-of-life standards and of the working conditions of the popular masses, resulting in unemployment for vast sectors; the violation of the rights and liberties of those who still have their jobs; the environmental degradation; the half-heartedness of solidarity and social ties; the aggravation of women´s situation; the increase of child labour; the rise of the social debt and the impairment of setting in motion a genuine process of the sustainable human development.
4- Our communities are threatened by the emphatic consolidation of current structures of domination by means of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) agreement. In view of the deep assymetries among its future members and the secrecy surrounding all the meetings of experts in charge of its institutionalisation, it is feasible to foresee that it will only pave the way to even deeper inequalities.
5- There is a tendency to consider education as a mere instrument to train and instruct human resources in the field of all the skills required by the market, in prejudice of its natural function, that is, an activity aimed at providing every human being with all the necessary tools so that they may freely and by themselves display their capabilities, thus fulfilling themselves as individuals to the full extent in every material, intellectual and spiritual dimension.
6- The educational task is particularly affected by these realities, which are expressed, among other elements, by:
6.1. the generalised state´s abandonment of its role of support of the educational system while washing its hand off their inherent function of guarantor of a quality education for all
6.2. the education budget-cut
6.3. the instability of working conditions and lost of job stability in the field of education
6.4. the lack of serious and coherent updating, instruction and training programmes, while more than once teachers are forced to cover up these mistakes on their own, thus incurring in time and excessive money expenditure.
6.5. the wrongful use given to new information and communication technologies within the educational framework, as complementary elements to the irreplaceable personal relationship between teachers and students.
6.6. the increase in the number of job responsibilities, resulting from the larger quantity of students in each group
6.7. the multiplication of activities in the field of social, food and health aid, which goes beyond their duties.
6.8. the difficulties in the proper development of the educational process, fostered by the set of problems to be faced by students in their family and local settings.
In view of the foregoing, the 8th World Congress of the World Confederation of Teachers agrees to:
1- Vigorously condemn the deep inequalities derived from the policies imposed by international usury representatives, under the ideological framework of neo-liberalism and ask for a fair allocation of wealth.
2- Demand administrations, international organisations and private financial entities to cancel the unlawful foreign indebtedness.
3- Firmly support FLATEC´s efforts in favour of the cultural, political and economic integration of the peoples in the area, through crystal-clear and engage-in-oriented processes and against any sibylline agreements laid by unlawful holders of power, such as FTAA or any other similar agreements.
4- Underline the importance of the respect of all cultural identities of every single people or nation in all processes of integration.
5- Reject all forms of child labour and to report the irreparable damage derived from this.
6- Censure all inferiority and alienation addressing of women in the region, of which they are alarmingly subject of.
7- Demand all the states of the region to fully take upon their unwaivable duties in the field of education, particularly, those related to the enactment and allotment of adequate budgets for that purpose.
8- Endorse FLATEC´s actions in favour of a substantial improvement in the working conditions of educators in the area and support its fight against all forms of violations of the fundamental rights and liberties of education workers in Latin-America and the Caribbean.
9- Reject all attempts to hinder setting up trade-unions in the private and public sector.
10- Promote through all available means the development of professional, pedagogical and syndical updating, instruction and training activities for regional educators, highlighting the efforts that FLATEC is making in this sense through IPLAC (Latin-American and the Caribbean Pedagogy Institute.
11- Foster joint efforts by Latin-American and the Caribbean teaching organisations in search of the achievement of goals commonly shared by every teacher.
Resolution on the position of education and teachers in Europe
The 8th WCT congress in Albena (Bulgaria)
1. considering the regional resolutions for the European region adopted by the preceding WCT congresses;
2. whereas during the Lisbon Conference (2000), the heads of state and governments decided to bring their efforts in education to bear on the rapid introduction of information and communication technologies in education. The WCT regrets that the priority of the focus of these efforts is on the acquisition of hardware and communication equipment by educational institutes and that little attention is paid to the integration of these new tools into teaching and their impact on the role, working conditions and training of teachers;
3. whereas the economies in Europe continue to undergo a reform process which is particularly characterised by privatisation and decentralisation, and that, during this process, and especially in Central and Eastern Europe, the living conditions are deteriorating and that budget allocated to education is continually decreasing. Decentralization without any counter power of the trade unions weakens the position of the educational staff. Respect for democratic decision making has to be maintained and even strengthened at all levels.
4. whereas the European Commission is in line with the dynamics aimed at commercialising not only education, but also all public authorities and services to the public. The WCT denounces once again that the concept of the European Union is still based on a neo-liberal concept of economic development. Other aspects of life in society are also extremely important. Consequently, the WCT advocates taking greater cognisance of education in the life of society, cultural and social education, education of the citizenry, etc;
5. whereas, furthermore, the concept of continuous education as developed by the European Community is in keeping with this market logic which aims as a priority at the economic development and not the permanent development of the individual for better integration, not only professionally, but also socially;
6. whereas the Bologna Declaration has created within university education a dynamics that tends to make higher learning institutions uniform. After a period of great vertical and horizontal diversification in higher education, the Congress also observed that this movement, in aiming at more mobility, ignores not only certain cultural differences but also above all, reduces access to higher learning for certain groups of young people, by reducing education vacancies.
7. Given the growing marginalisation of certain groups, especially the youth, within the European union and considering the key role of education in this society of knowledge;
The 8th WCT World Congress
8. approves of the option of the European Commission to preserve the principle of subsidiarity – particularly within the framework of the general education policy – due to the nature and the specific culture of teaching in the member States. But it also observes that the this principle is increasingly circumvented during conferences and meetings at which national ministers jointly make agreements or commitments;
9. takes the view that it is of capital importance that the social dimension of the European Union be strengthened, in accordance with ETUC action. In this dynamic, the role of the social partners is of capital importance for building a democratic society in Europe based on social equality and the respect of the dignity of each individual. This involves respect for the position of the independent trade union movement, including tripartite consultations on socio-economic subjects. In the knowledge society, given the essential role of education for the development of democracy, it is important that the responsibilities and identical possibilities be given to all democratic education trade unions.
10. takes that within the ETUC, the ETUCE must guarantee the structured unity of action of the European Union education trade unions and the EFTA.
11. believes that in negotiations with member states, the demands in terms of economic and monetary convergence cannot harm the quality of education and the status of teachers in member countries. It opposes the reduction of collective expenditure as part of the objectives for the expansion of the European Union, which essentially harms the objectives of lifelong quality education for all.
12. continues, in the footsteps of the WCL, to highlight the fundamental role of Europe with the view to creating together with other continents, world peace based on the total recognition of Human Rights and people, particularly their social, economic, political, cultural and trade union rights. It encourages the European Union to pursue its efforts, particularly in the Balkan region and in the Mediterranean, in order to resolve existing conflicts and to establish sustainable peace.
13. denounces the willingness of several member States of the European Union to make some social conditions less advantageous for teachers such as pension schemes, sickness, etc. It also denounces the proliferation of contracts of fixed duration, atypical contracts, job commitment, etc, which erode the status of teachers and destabilise teaching teams. Particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, despite the political changes, salaries of teaching personnel when paid, are not always adequate and the annual income of a teacher is still clearly below average;
14. is in favour of an open Europe. It encourages co-operation in education between the European Union and its member States on the hand and all the Central and Eastern European countries, be they candidates or not, third world countries and international institutions on the other. In this context, the WCT demonstrates the importance of establishing good contacts with the Council of Europe;
15. denounces decentralisation which removes the responsibility of the authorities in terms of budget, general conditions and minimal standards, and which weakens the position of teachers and encourages the commercialisation of education;
16. is convinced that the application of the principle of equal opportunities between women and men, in all areas relating to education, and not only the respect of a fundamental right, is also the condition necessary for harmonious development of the society;
17. is also convinced that education must more than ever be in keeping with the development of the four pillars of education described in the Delors report: learning to learn, knowing, working and living together. Education for the values of peace, tolerance, respect of another and sustainable development is not possible in an instrumentalist and/or economic approach to education. In our open and multicultural world, education for good values and the respect of the values of others is the only guarantee for sustainable peace;
18. states that the effects of commercialisation of education is the subject of a separate resolution.
The 8th WCT congress requests that:
19. at the European level all States continue to release enough resources for education. Particular attention will however be given to compulsory education and to these types and forms of education which welcome the youth and the most underprivileged;
20. within the framework of the new regulated procedure of the European Union, additional attention must be given to grant the WCT and the ETUCE an entirely separate position as interlocutors of the European Commission. Through the ETUCE, the European region of the WCT must continue to involve itself in all the European policies, particularly when aspects of education are on the agenda. This co-operation must, among others, be on the improvement of working conditions of teachers;
21. realistic human resources management policies take into account the problems of shortage, basic and further training and the end of service benefits of teachers. The WCT rejects the notion that under the pretext of remedying the shortage of teachers governments take measures enabling them to engage less- or unqualified teachers, to increase the problems of the job by larger classes or by prolonging the service of teachers;
22. Europe, with its long tradition of social dialogue, creates a framework giving sufficient guarantee to all stakeholders in education and particularly teachers, to bring the school to local communities and thus enable better social inclusion of all young people;
23. governments guarantee teachers social protection equal to civil servants in the public service covering adequately among others, issues of illness, maternity, and retirement;
24. the social dimension of Europe should be strengthened with respect to the authority, knowledge and skills of the teaching staff and their organizations.
25. teachers are fully recognised in their professionalism and in their role of actor of social inclusion, especially at the local level, by recruiting them according to laid down regulations and by guaranteeing them decent and socially appropriate working conditions.
26. at all times the right of the trade unions to negotiate at all levels about issues concerning the educational and working conditions of the teachers should be safeguarded.
|
