By Terri Macdonald. The NTEU joins other unions and progressive organisations around the world in celebrating International Women's Day (IWD) this year, whilst warning we face a new battle to improve Gender Equity in the Workplace. 
Since 1911, this day has been a global event, celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future, and mobilising to address the challenges. Around the globe, unions organise rallies, marches, fairs and debates, and reflect on the progress made to advance women’s equality, assess the challenges facing girls and women, look at ways to improve the quality of life and to actualize rights, and to empower girls and women in all spheres of human endeavour. More...

By Courtney Sloane. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief, Christine Lagarde, used last night’s QandA program to underscore the importance of investing in education.

Christine Lagarde: “Clearly, investing in health, investing in education, making sure there are equal opportunities for all is something where public money is needed. And it is not a question of - what did you call it? Vested rights? No, entitlements…”

Tony Jones: “The age of entitlements is over is Joe Hockey's phrase.” 

Christine Lagarde: “I'd respond by [saying] investing in health and education is a priority.” More...

By Andreas Schleicher, Deputy Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD's Secretary General. I spent two days in Hiroshima, discussing education reform and global policy trends with prefectural leaders and the academic community. This city, target of a simply unimaginable attack on human mankind 59 years ago, is now the birthplace of some of the World’s most innovative education policies and practices. More...

By Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin and Alfonso Echazarra, CERI Innovation Strategy, Directorate for Education and Skills. India has been hailed for being a laboratory of frugal and inclusive innovations. The Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world, the Aravind Eye Care Hospitals, which fight “avoidable blindness” by giving cheap or free state-of-the-art eye surgery to poor Indians, or the Bharti Airtel, which offers low-rate phone calls, thanks to an innovative business model, are often-cited examples of innovations that make valuable products and services affordable to deprived populations. Just glance at the Honey Bee Network database and you will find a plethora of interesting initiatives targeted to the Indian poor: from the Mitticool, a natural refrigerator made entirely from clay that requires no energy, to the Washing and Exercise Machine, a mechanical, semi-automated, pedal operated washing machine for clothes, the jugaad spirit is ubiquitous. More...

We know that education is a key component of individual well-being. Developing skills is valuable for people as it responds to their aspiration to learn and to their need to respond to the changing environment. With most people aged 25-64 in OECD countries now holding at least an upper secondary degree and today’s 5-year-olds expected to notch up at least 17 years of study, it is perhaps a good time to ask: What makes an education that promotes well-being?

Join an online discussion on:

Education that promotes well-being

Experiences in Latin America: kindergarten, primary, secondary/technical and university

Finishes at 22:00, 25 February 2014

The discussion will focus on the following questions:

- In Latin America, what does it mean to have an education that promotes well-being and improves quality of life? Do we need to go beyond the concept of human capital?

- What are the characteristics of an education model that promotes well-being?

- What community programmes, social experiments and public policies are currently being conducted in Latin America that help foster education models which promote well-being?

- What extra efforts are needed in order to construct education models that promote well-being? Who should be responsible for designing and implementing them?

Leave your comments in Spanish, Portuguese, English or French under the section entitled “Contribuye” on the discussion webpage. To participate, click here.

This is the link to the page: bit.ly/1fohFHx and the hashtags in Twitter are #teachlearn and #EducaciónDeCalidad.