Communiqué from the 18th Biennial Conference and Roundtable of the Council of Pacific Education

Improving the status of teachers and promoting children’s rights to a quality education

18^th to 22^nd August, 2008, Nadi, Fiji

Recognising that the right to a quality education is a fundamental human right and is so for all children, regardless of race, colour, creed or location. 

Determining that teachers are central to the provision of high quality education. 

Affirming the Council’s commitment to the recommendations outlined in the key document the Recommendation on the Status of Teachers, adopted in 1966, the special intergovernmental conference on the status of teachers, convened in Paris by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

Re-affirming the Council’s commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to the attainment of Education for All

Celebrating the achievement of almost universal provision of basic primary education in most Pacific Island countries

Concerned with the progress against other key goals, such as access to Early Childhood Education and Care, and levels of adult literacy attainment. 

Concerned that the statistics show showing approximately 350,000 children in the Pacific who are not in school.

Affirming the process of teacher appraisal and assessment as it is used for supporting teachers and improving the quality of teaching across the pacific.

Recognising that quality teaching underpins quality learning and quality outcomes.

Celebrating the progress that Pacific Island Nations have made in improving the quality of teaching, which has lead to improvements in learning outcomes and the achievement of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Determining that quality teaching and learning requires appropriate and adequate resources to support the professional learning of teachers in pre-service, induction and ongoing professional development. 

Determining that quality teaching is best ensured through respecting the professionalism of teachers, and through principals and teachers working together through systemic frameworks aimed at improving professional practice.

Valuing the unique role that teacher unions play in representing their members to enhance the status of the worthy profession of teaching and the rights of teacher unions to play an equal role as partners in the implementation of policies and plans that impact on the members of these organisations.

This meeting of the COPE recommends:

Education for All

1. That the COPE, in re-affirming a commitment to high quality education for all calls upon those governments in the region, which restrict access to universal Education for All through the charging of fees to remove those fees, as a matter of urgency.

2. That COPE reaffirms its commitment to the principles outlined below, and calls on governments to enable the development of curriculum and pedagogies that enable students to:

-         be grounded in their cultures;

-         attain a decent quality of life;

-         participate in the worthwhile activities of society;

-         move between the environments, societies and cultures of their choice;

-         develop the intellectual, cultural and spiritual knowledges of their home cultures, and to appreciate and respect the same knowledges in other cultures;

-         acquire a range of life skills which will contribute to their holistic growth as cultural, intellectual and spiritual beings; and

-         lead to the attainment of peace and harmony in society.

Improving the status of teachers

3. COPE notes that quality teaching and learning requires professionally qualified teachers, appropriate and adequate resources to support the professional learning of teachers in pre-service, induction and ongoing professional development.  We call on Governments and employing authorities to ensure their teachers are appropriately qualified, provide these resources, in the interests of the provision of high quality education and quality outcomes.

4. Attracting and retaining qualified teachers who deliver high quality educational programmes is essential to the achievement of the goal of universal Education for All, therefore the COPE calls upon governments to ensure salaries comparable to other professions, and quality working conditions and accommodation.

5. COPE asserts that professionally qualified and trained teachers are crucial to the attainment of quality educational outcomes, and rejects the notion that quality teaching does not require appropriately qualified people. A multitude of international evidence and judgements of practitioners, including the Recommendation on the Status of Teachers points to the fundamental need for highly qualified teachers to achieve high quality education.

6. That COPE and its affiliates take every opportunity to promote and enhance the status of teachers in their communications, public statements and celebration of the work and positive contribution that teachers make and calls upon governments and employers to complement such strategies with appropriate publicity and promotion.

Professional Development

7. COPE calls upon governments to fund appropriately and make available high quality professional development programmes for all educators, including principals, teachers and education staff.

8. Professional development programmes must pay attention to the phases in the careers of educators, including teachers, principals and education staff, specifically, pre-service, mentored induction and ongoing support.

9. These programmes must pay attention to the variety of contexts in which educators, including principals, teachers and education staff operate and be consistent with Pacific values.

10. That COPE investigate in conjunction with affiliates and their relevant education employing authorities the establishment of short and medium term study tours and teacher exchange within the COPE region.

Teacher/education unions and organisations 

11. That governments and agencies be reminded that engagement with teacher unions and their members is essential to the achievement of quality education and that such engagement should be early, consistent and meaningful.

12. That COPE and affiliates be congratulated on the development of membership retention and recruitment strategies and leadership development through the scheduling of and delivery of appropriate workshops and training, further, that these successful programmes be continued, including capacity building programmes on understanding the positive and negative impacts of free trade agreements, in particular, PICTA and PACER.

13. That COPE calls on all Governments and NGOs involved in the development of education sector strategy plans to ensure formal union engagement in these processes. Affiliates are urged to contact their governments to ensure they communicate their willingness to be involved in these processes.

14. That COPE coordinate with interested affiliates the development of policy statements for use by interested affiliates in response to Government initiatives in such areas as teacher appraisal, professional development, teacher registration (including renewal of registration), recruitment and promotions.

15. That where such policies do not exist, that COPE affiliates be encouraged and assisted to develop appropriate policies, where appropriate, in consultation with governments and employing authorities. 

16. That Governments be encouraged, in consultation with the relevant union and its members to review current policies affecting teachers in light of regional developments in such matters as labour mobility, recognition of qualifications and the like.

17. That COPE notes Education International’s endorsement of the Protocol for the Recruitment of Commonwealth Teachers and believes that this protocol could be a useful tool in guiding the recruitment of teachers across the Pacific. COPE and affiliates are called on to draw this protocol to the attention of their respective education and trade ministers, including through regional decision-making structures.

18. That COPE facilitate dialogue with affiliates on core working conditions which might enhance the provision of quality education and which affiliates might then pursue in their respective collective bargaining negotiations.

19. That COPE approach the ILO in the Pacific region for support in technical assistance and capacity building, in implementing the provisions as outlined in the ILO Convention No 98 – Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining – with member countries, in the context of teacher employment. 

Partnerships in development

20. That COPE recognises the important contribution to the education of children in the Pacific, by international and regional cooperating partners, in particular, UNESCO, UNICEF and SBPEA. COPE thanks these partners for their contribution to the COPE roundtable and looks forward to a successful partnership in the future. We express our dismay that the engagement with such agencies on current initiatives has often occurred belatedly and calls upon these agencies to ensure that teacher unions and their members are fully engaged from the inception of such processes, in to the future.

21. That COPE commends the foundational values underpinning the concept of Child Friendly Schools as those that should characterise all education provision and facilities. Further that the CFS model be enhanced to ensure its long-term sustainability.

22. That COPE expresses its concern with the impact on schools and teachers of overlapping programmes and initiatives and calls on government and employers to bring harmonisation to rationalise the operation of donor agencies and programmes.

23. The Process of Teacher Appraisal

24. That any teacher appraisal structure be based on formative principles managed by the teacher and be based on a number of key elements:

·        It must be linked with the school’s goals and objectives and reflect the school context;

·        It must be built in to the operational practices of school via training of all staff which aims to build common values and understandings of the structures and processes;

·        It is developmental and focuses on improvement and development not supervision of individuals;

·        It is directly linked to a clearly articulated statement of agreed expectations of the staff members in each school, with an emphasis on objective data;

·        It provides for a variety of information collection processes and sources;

·        It is flexible and allows for changes and modifications within an agreed framework;

·        It makes provision for the allocation of adequate resources to operate the process;

·        It remains separate to determining pay/salary structures.

25. The purpose of the appraisal is for the benefit of the teacher to enhance teaching effectiveness and any data produced should not be used for any other purpose without the teacher’s express consent. 

Free trade agreements and their impact on education

26. COPE reaffirms its opposition to the notion that education is a commodity and strongly resists the inclusion of education services and the products developed through the provision of education services in all free trade agreements.

27. That COPE recognises the need for trade and development to occur amongst the nations of the Pacific and between them and other nations, however, COPE is opposed to free trade agreements that cause unemployment and loss of livelihoods, include education and other social services, undermine Indigenous cultures and land ownership and limit the capacity of Governments to regulate the economy in the public interest.

28. COPE continues to call on all Governments to include education sector unions in all processes to do with trade and development planning and implementation, particularly as they relate to education.

29. That COPE continues to urge Governments of developing countries in the Pacific to work together in partnership amongst themselves, with teacher unions/associations, the broader union movement and other key stakeholders to develop a common platform of trade and development priorities and share experiences in relation to the development of trade agreements.

Peace, social justice, democracy and solidarity 

30. Teachers and their unions have a fundamental role in educating students on the protection of universal human rights, human values, democracy and social justice. As teachers, we must always strive to educate our students in the principles that create strong, peaceful, democratic and respectful societies. As teacher unionists, we will rise together to oppose injustices, the violations of the principles of democracy and any attacks on freedoms and trade union and human rights.

31. COPE calls upon the interim regime in Fiji to respect the rule of law and to return the country to democracy without delay under the 1997 constitution. That the process should occur without interference to peoples’ rights to information and the militarization of the civil service.

32. COPE recognises and acknowledges the hardship faced by the 18 members of the Papua New Guinea Teachers’ Association during their suspension from the teaching service. We recognise and acknowledge the important role played by their union in the fight to re-instate them to the teaching service. The teachers and the PNGTA are congratulated on their strength and courage in challenging the unfair suspension through the courts. They are congratulated on winning the legal challenge, resulting in their reinstatement.