International Issues

Fifth World Congress Web site | NEA Working Around the World

Reg Weaver Re-Elected Vice President of Education International

EI World Congress Opens with Call for Education for All

Berlin (July 23) – National Education Association President Reg Weaver began his second term as Vice President of Education International, vowing to help bring educators around the globe together around the principles of a great public school for every student.

Weaver was elected to the four-year term by acclamation on the opening day of the World Congress of EI, which comprises 348 member-organizations representing more than 29 million education workers in 169 countries.

He has extensive experience with the world body – as president of NEA, leading the NEA at two World Congresses, sharing his expertise at EI conferences, and serving on an EI  human rights mission to Ethiopia.

"Just as we believe that every student should have access to a great public school, so do our colleagues across the globe," said Weaver.  "But more than that, just as we do, they believe that this access is a basic right."

German President Horst Köhler opened the World Congress with a call that echoed Weaver's call for a great public school for every child.

"A good education is not just a question of luck," said Köhler, addressing the crowd of 1,700 delegates. "It's a human right. It's a right for all of us." Köhler, the second of eight children of an immigrant family, credited the opportunities that a public education provided him for the success he has achieved. 

EI President Thulas Nxesi, of the South Africa Democratic Teachers' Union, offered a call for unity and activism in his opening address: "We are all educators, we are all workers – regardless of any difference in color or creed – and we face common challenges. Where teacher unions do not exist, EI must offer assistance in establishing them. Where unions are weak we must work cooperatively to strengthen them. Where unions are under attack from governments or vested interests we must be willing to provide concrete solidarity and support.

"I must mention the plight of teachers in countries where human and labor rights are not respected: Colombia, Peru, East Timor, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and more."