TUAC - TRADE UNION ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE OECD

25/10/2010

Education Ministers from OECD member countries and key emerging economies will  meet in Paris 4-5 November 2010 to examine how to increase “human and social capital” in the crisis for the benefit of their post-crisis economies and societies. The meeting will be chaired by the Austrian Minister, Ms. Claudia Schmied.

Ministers are expected to give particular attention to the following:

• How can countries improve training, learning outcomes, and human capital, given budget pressures?
• How can vocational education and training (VET) provide the new competences required for the knowledge economy?
• How can teacher training be improved? What professional development do teachers need?
• How can education improve social mobility? What impact has the crisis had on young people’s aspirations and motivation to learn?

TUAC, working closely with Education International (EI), submitted a trade union statement to the Ministerial. A trade union delegation will hold consultations with the Ministers on 4 November.
The statement expresses concern over the excessively utilitarian view of education that underpins the OECD’s work on education. TUAC and EI contend that the  broader value of education in enhancing the ability of individuals to contribute to the wider cultural, political and civic life of the society within which they live must provide the foundations of policy development across the education and skills sector.

The statement also calls on the OECD Education Policy Committee to start to engage more or extensively with TUAC and BIAC, the Advisory Committees of labour and business to the OECD.

To read the full statement, click here