European Trade Union Committee for Education

The COVID 19 outbreak is a public health crisis quite different than anything Europe has faced for many years. As education personnel and their trade unions grapple with the outbreak, we are supporting and informing member organisations in any way we can.

• Basque Country: thousands of education workers strike for a safe return to school and quality education for all students
• Reopening of schools in the Netherlands: ETUCE Member organisation AOb demands quicker testing and better health and safety measures to protect staff and students and keep schools open
• Education social partners discuss the aftermath of COVID-19 in Europe
• Germany: Ensuring health and safety of teachers requires more efforts for the reopening of schools
• COVID-19: In Italy, 400 000 education workers gather for online rallies to protest for better employment and working conditions during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond
• COVID-19 : NEU report highlights weeks of unanswered questions to the government on the reopening of schools
• German-speaking education trade unions LCH, GÖD and VBE unite for a joint statement on COVID-19 and call for better digital training of teachers
• In Serbia, education trade unions mobilise to advocate for safe return to school for education personnel and students alike at the end of the school year
• Higher education admission procedures risk being disrupted by COVID-19 crisis
• Eurydice reports on closure and reopening of schools and education institutions across Europe
• Remote but not far away: Italy’s FLC-CGIL takes trade union organising online
• Unions in Belgium and Germany join school community voices to demand careful reopening
• In Denmark DLF works hard so that the health and safety of education personnel is protected in back-to-school policies
• In Malta MUT works with government and social partners to guide education system through crisis
• Hungarian trade unions protest plans to force education personnel off public sector contracts
• As France cancels exams, SNES-FSU demands a solution fair to students and teachers
• Spain's FECCOO calls for government action on teacher recruitment
• In Germany VBE insists that lawmakers must consult teachers on COVID-19 legislation
• Teachers in Serbia make education work despite the crisis
• SBASHK supports education staff in Kosovo with the challenges of digital teaching
• ETUCE calls for coordinated and rational measures
• Nordic education unions join forces with public authorities to fight pandemic
• NEU helps staff in England and Wales stay safe and negotiate with leadership
• Russia’s ESEUR holds online Congress in shadow of COVID-19 outbreak
• Romania’s FSLI offers psychological support to teachers
• Albanian education union uses technology to reduce impact of COVID-19
• Estonia shares digital education tools for distance teaching and learning
• Latest information on the closure of schools and other education institutions

• COVID-19

• Latest Updates

Many countries in Europe are keeping schools and other education institutions open during the COVID-19 outbreak to provide childcare for vulnerable students and the children of critical workers. The UK authorities have chosen this approach, which means that some staff are being asked to go into work even though normal lessons are cancelled.

While education personnel are ready to play their part in managing the COVID-19 crisis, maintaining baseline services in schools must not lead to a further wave of infections. Continued health and safety vigilance will be needed to prevent contagion in school and at home.

The burden of this work should also be shared fairly, protecting the most vulnerable without pushing teachers to take on excessive work or come into school when not necessary. School leaders must listen to teachers and their trade unions, working together to develop clear and fair rules around these shifting tasks. Students with special educational needs will be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in specific ways, and their schools will face additional challenges in maintaining even basic services during this time.

The NEU has issued guidelines and support documents to help members and local branches navigate these complex issues. These are anchored in their national context but raise relevant points for education personnel and trade unions across Europe.

• Keeping yourself safe: what you can do now (guidelines)
• An example letter to school leaders (document for workers and local reps)
• 10 points on special school closures (guidelines)

Earlier this week, the Joint General Secretary of NEU, Mary Bousted, said that  NEU was “liaising with the Department for Education to ensure action is taken on all of these points. If we are to help the community, which we should, we need maximum protection from the Government. Our members are doing enormously brave work right now. As with NHS [National Health Service] workers, they are putting themselves at risk. Our ethical responsibility is to them.”

The ETUCE Secretariat sends solidarity to all teachers, academics and other education personnel and their education trade unions as they react to and tackle this unprecedented crisis. We invite ETUCE member organisations to inform the ETUCE Secretariat about the challenges you face, how you are responding, which good practices you have developed and can share with colleagues, as well as your needs for support from the ETUCE family. Contact ETUCE at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..