TUAC NEWS
Unions Targeting Education and Training at the OECD (video)
10/01/2008
In December the OECD published their work measuring educational output – the much heralded PISA report. Whilst unions often have justified concerns about drawing far-reaching conclusions from what is after all a just a three hour test on the competencies of fifteen year old students, PISA captures media and government attention and is used and misused across the OECD and beyond. The PISA report draws more press coverage than any other OECD publication. It represents just one example of why unions are seeking new tools to work together to have our voice in the OECD Education agenda. TUAC’s objective is to expand trade union involvement in the OECD’s education work and to help affiliates to use OECD studies and research in their own activities for lifelong learning. The increased priority given to education policy within the OECD and the increasing role of the OECD both in education policy development in OECD member and partner countries provides both an opportunity and a need for trade union intervention. This work is undertaken in partnership with Educational International. The Education section of the new TUAC web-site will be used to provide a forum for unions to take this exchange of ideas and information one step further. Some of the regular participants in this work of the TUAC Working Group on Education, including the Chair Bob Harris give their views on the direction and importance of this work in the attached video interviews.
- Paddy Healy delegate to TUAC from the Teachers' Unions of
Ireland
- Bob Harris - chair of the TUAC Working
group on Education and Employment. He is also associated with
Education International.
- Käthe Munk Ryom (AC - The Danish Confederation of
Professional Associations - and Eurocadres).
- (in French) Yves Baunay (FSU).
- (in German) Marianne Demmer (DGB-GEW)
Video shots by Chuck Bolland; free lance journalist working for the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28.