Global Action Week on Education Promotes “World's Biggest Lesson”
WASHINGTON - April 22, 2008 -Education International, which represents 394 teachers unions - including the National Education Association - and education organizations around the world, has launched a global campaign to benefit children. Global Action Week, April 21-28, 2008, will raise awareness about education rights for children worldwide.
Today, 72 million children across the globe are denied access to a basic education and over 226 million children are denied the opportunity to attend secondary school.
To raise awareness of the barriers that young people face all over the world in accessing a quality education, this year's Global Action Week will feature the World's Biggest Lesson-a global attempt to break a world record by uniting millions of children, teachers and parents using the same lesson plan.
The following statement can be attributed to Reg Weaver, NEA president and vice president of Education International:
"Access to a quality education is a basic right of every child, no matter where he or she lives. This campaign validates that principle. As an organization, NEA recognizes that the basic right to great public schools doesn't end at our borders. We can't afford to simply ignore the global struggle for quality teachers in every classroom, safe and orderly schools, and adequate resources and school funding. To the contrary, we must work with education unions worldwide to make sure all children are well prepared to meet the needs of a global economy."
Further information about Education International, the World's Biggest Lesson and Global Action Week is available at http://www.ei-ie.org/.
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
Contact: Brian Washington (202) 822-7823