Commonwealth teacher migration protocol gets ILO nod

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith oversaw the signing of a deal to promote the implementation of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol on 6 October 2006 at Marlborough House.  

In the Letter of Agreement -- signed by Lord William Brett, Director of ILO-UK Office, and Ann Keeling, Director of the Secretariat’s Social Transformation Programmes Division -- the ILO and the Secretariat committed to work together to advance the status and protection of teachers in the interest of quality education.

“Education has always been a central concern of the Commonwealth. I am pleased to re-commit the Secretariat to supporting the need to respect teachers’ rights and responsibilities as set out in the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation of 1966,” Mr Smith told the gathering.   

The September 2004 Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol calls for the balancing of the rights of teachers to migrate internationally with the need to protect the integrity of national education systems and to prevent the exploitation of scarce human resources in poor countries. 

Governments, non-governmental organisations like Education International, and bodies like the International Labour Organisation have recommended the adoption of the Protocol beyond the Commonwealth. Apart from encouraging Commonwealth states to review their procedures for hiring teachers from overseas, the Protocol has also been the basis of bilateral agreements for teacher exchanges between countries such as Kenya and Rwanda. 

The Secretariat and the ILO will draw a plan for joint activities. It is expected that a meeting of programme officials of both organisations will be held at least once a year, alternatively in London and in Geneva, to review implementation of this Letter of Agreement.

Key Links:

• Education Section
• Deputy Secretaries-General

Related News:

• International Labour Organization