European Trade Union Committee for Education

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On 18-19 February 2025, the newly appointed members of the ETUCE Standing Committee for Equality convened in Brussels to define the priorities for the next four years, addressing key issues such as gender equality, combating the far-right, and enhancing inclusive education. They also elected a chair for the next mandate, Rossella Benedetti, UIL-Scuola, Italy, and a vice-chair, Alexandra Cornea, FSLI, Romania.

The main discussion at the meeting evolved around setting up the priorities and topics of Standing Committee’s work for the next four years in the view of the implementation of the ETUCE Work Programme for the period of 2025-2028 and resolutions adopted at the ETUCE Conference last year. These areas were particularly highlighted:

• Strategies to counteract far-right influence in education and unions, including addressing anti-racism.
• Tackling bullying, violence, and discrimination against LGBTI students and teachers.
• Strengthening inclusion efforts in schools, especially for marginalized communities (e.g., Roma, migrants, refugees).
• Ensuring better integration of children with disabilities in mainstream education.
• Promoting women’s leadership and addressing barriers to female participation.
• Tackling and preventing harassment and discrimination in educational institutions and unions.
• Strengthening professional autonomy in the face of pressure from governments, parents, and media.
• Analyzing AI’s impact on democracy, inclusion, and education.

Regarding the outcomes of the Standing Committee’s work, members expressed their preference for more action-oriented outputs (e.g. webinars on concrete issues and to share good practices, recommendations and checklists, etc.). They also highlighted the importance of strengthening strategies to support trade unions in advocating for equality and improving the visibility of outputs and impact from union-led equality initiatives.

Members also accessed the implementation of ETUCE key policy documents on equality and inclusion, Action Plan on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Action Plan on Gender Equality, and contributed to the revision of the Education International Action Plan on Gender Equality.

Union representatives from Belgium, Denmark, and Spain shared successful equality initiatives, including teacher training on inclusive pedagogy, enhancement of gender awareness in schools, and the negotiation and implementation of Equality Plans. Meanwhile, equality experts from the UK and Germany presented a joint project on responding to far-right and populist narratives in the classroom.