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Commonwealth to present teacher recruitment protocol in America

27 June 2008

This protocol aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems

The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol will be the focus of a special Migration Forum hosted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at their national convention in Chicago, Illinois, from 9 to 11 July 2008.

The AFT - one of the largest teacher unions in the United States - has invited the Commonwealth Secretariat to present the protocol at the forum, which is addressing ‘the Ethics of International Recruitment’.

Protocol for the Recruitment of Commonwealth Teachers

The Protocol aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally, on a temporary or permanent basis, against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and prevent the exploitation of scarce human resources in developing or low income countries.

“Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation by recruitment agencies,” said Antonia Cortese, AFT’s Executive Vice-President. “These recruitment practices have an impact on the quality of health and education services delivered both in the US and in [source] countries.” A ‘source country’ is a country from which teachers are recruited.

When the protocol was adopted in 2004, ministers of education, particularly those from the Caribbean, pointed out that while America is not a member of the Commonwealth, it could benefit from being under the ‘umbrella’ of the protocol. Their reasoning was that a number of teachers working in the US are recruited from developing countries.

Research from the AFT shows that between 2001 and 2006, 23,991 visas were granted to primary and secondary school teachers from abroad. These visas allow a maximum of three years’ domicile in America. In 2005 alone, 27,683 visas were granted to college, university and professional teachers.*

“Through initiatives such as Teacher Research Symposia and the support of Education International, the interest from teachers unions and academics in America has been ignited,” explained Roli Degazon-Johnson, Education Adviser at the Secretariat and co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Working Group on Teacher Recruitment.

A 'source country' is a country from which teachers are recruited.

The National Education Association and the AFT have now both examined the Protocol, and in August 2005 the Protocol was endorsed by the Organization of American States, which has 35 member countries including the US.

The AFT Migration Forum will be attended by international teachers’ union leaders from France, Ghana, Kenya, the Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain, as well as teachers’ union leaders from New York, California, Texas, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, which all recruit teachers internationally.

*Source: US Department of Labor.