The world's largest global teacher organization met in Porto Alegre, Brazil, this summer and passed a resolution that will enable it to fight the growing globalization and commercialization of higher education.

The meeting attracted 1,500 delegates and guests who gathered July 22-26 at a site away from tourist attractions and focused on worldwide challenges to those who work in the education profession. They took up the international "Education for All" campaign, education quality, the rights of women and girls, fights against child labor, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the defense of human and trade union rights of educators and support personnel. 

One of the most significant outcomes of the meeting was passage of a higher education "instrument" that will serve as a tool to fight the negative effects of globalization. "The continued internationalization of higher education should be based on cooperation and exchange rather than competition and commerce," it says.

AFT secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour speaks on the effect of GATS on education at the Education International meeting. Photo courtesy of EI.

It specifically targets recent developments in trade, such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and opposes the inclusion of education within trade agreements. "The application of trade principles to education and the deepening of trade liberalization are radically altering the international environment for higher education institutions, staff and students," it says.

The instrument recognizes the values groups within EI hold dear--that education is a public good and right, that educators and support personnel have academic and employment rights and freedoms, and that governments should support exchange even as they protect their indigenous systems of higher education. But most importantly, it sets into motion the formulating of legally binding standards and regulations on trade in higher education. It affirms EI's efforts to campaign to enforce existing conventions and codes that have been set by the United Nations, UNESCO and the International Labor Organization.

EI was founded in 1993 and represents 29 million teachers through their organizations in 150 countries. Its first president, former National Education Association president Mary Hatwood Futrell, stepped down at this meeting and Thulas Nxesi, AFT's good friend and general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, was elected to take her place. Also, Sandra Feldman was re-elected as a vice president of the EI executive board.  The higher education community was pleased to elect one of their own to the board, Grahame McCulloch, from the National Tertiary Education Union in Australia.
[Barbara McKenna]

August 30, 2004