Successful implementation of education policy relies on teacher involvement (04 April 2016)

Educators from over 30 countries have linked the promotion of education as public good to teacher autonomy, political commitment by governments and the recognition of education unions as agents of change.

Susan Hopgood, during the panel session on the Sustainable Development Goals

The EI Conference of affiliates in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, organised by Education International (EI), brought more than 150 international delegates from OECD member countries for a two-day seminar to Rome, the Italian capital.
The participants were welcomed to Rome by the EI Italian affiliates who said that they were grateful for the opportunity to host the Conference and contribute to EI’s policy development work. They reminded participants that this was the second time that they had hosted the EI OECD affiliates conference.  Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, in his introduction to the Conference, highlighted the importance of including teachers and education unions in policy dialogue in order for it to be successful. Framing the policy developments in the light of the current international political, economic and social context, from the post-crisis economy to the refugee influx, van Leeuwen regretted that, too often, Governments do not consult the stakeholders directly involved in education when drafting changes in policy or implementing commitments made at national or international level: “Governments may say one thing in an international meeting but do something completely different back home.”
In this regard, he warned of the increasing tendency on the part of governments to neglect education by leaving it in the hands of edu-businesses and for-profit corporations. He emphasised that, despite the OECD’s evidence that shows that the market in education has a negative impact on student outcomes and deepens inequality, “some governments remain steadfast in their attempts to dismantle their public school systems. We are already seeing the effects of this agenda with the break-up of traditional school systems, particularly in some low-income countries. We see the emergence and spread of privately managed, corporate owned, and in many instances, for-profit schools.” He cited the recent examples ofsuch developments in  the Philippines and Kenya, while in Liberia “the authorities are about to hand over all primary and secondary schools to a for profit corporation”.