The threat of HIV/Aids is one the many challenges facing teachers. We have to increase our efforts to fight the pandemic. Educators are in the frontline of fighting the war against HIV/Aids. We have to provide clarity and leadership in this matter.
As unions we have to develop strategies and structures to provide care and support for sick colleagues and learners. We have to campaign for appropriate medical treatment, and defend the rights of colleagues and learners living with HIV/Aids. We have to stand up in our communities and speak out against prejudice and stigma.
We are workers and trade unionists, but we are also passionate about the education of our people and especially our children.
We have made an argument for public education. We have highlighted the dangers of privatisation, which would benefit only the rich and leave our society more divided than ever. We have made the argument that education and training is an investment and not simply a drain on the fiscus. That is why the theme of this year’s World Teachers’ Day is so appropriate: ‘Quality teachers for quality education”.
We have to campaign and mobilise behind the objectives set in Dakar for Education for All (EFA). Experience shows that as teacher unions we will need to lead, but on our own we will not win this struggle. We have to speak to our learners, their parents, the school governing bodies, the communities that surround our schools, as well as the broader labour and progressive movement.
As part of Education International (EI), I believe that we are part of a global awakening of progressive forces for social change and justice. We can draw hope from the resilience of the international labour movement, which refuses to lie down in the face of corporate globalisation. We draw hope from the emergence of new social movements on the ground, representing the dispossessed and oppressed.
In some instances, we can also celebrate the democratic election of governments committed to social justice — such as the governments of Brazil and South Africa — that are committed to the eradication of poverty.
As a trade union, we need to be concerned by more than just education issues. We need to continue the search for a new — and more just — world order:
n?World peace and security are pivotal. There is a common concern and understanding that unilateral military action is unacceptable and that we have to seek alternatives rooted in strong multi-lateral institutions, respecting international law and committed to negotiated settlements to conflicts. There is also a shared revulsion against terrorism in all its guises, and a commitment to understand and root out the underlying causes of terrorism.
n?As EI we have spoken out on human rights abuses, including political and labour rights, women’s rights and the rights of children.
n?Poverty and inequality lie at the root of the problems that face us in rolling out EFA and in combating HIV/Aids. We are still struggling to develop alternative economic strategies to address this, but certainly it would have to include debt relief for developing nations, a fairer trade regime, and development cooperation programmes geared to the real needs of the people.
In terms of education-specific priorities, there will be no quality education unless the basic conditions of educators and education workers are addressed. We have taken resolutions and put in place mechanisms to promote collective bargaining and to promote the status of education personnel. We must never lose sight of this basic role that we have as trade unions.
Thulas Nxesi is general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and president of Education International.