Education trade union leaders are meeting in Zagreb to celebrate World Teachers’ Day at the Central and Eastern European Round Table meeting to be hosted by TUWPSEC, one of the five Croatian affiliates of Education International.

Prof. Dr. Dragan Primorac, the Minister for Science, Education and Sport of Croatia, and Petar Selem, President of the Parliament Committee for Education, Science and Culture will be among the speakers. The Trade Union of Workers in Pre-school Education of Croatia will be hosting 50 delegates from 16 countries across Central and Eastern Europe from 2-4 October. It is the annual CEE meeting of the Pan-European Structure of EI. Delegates will explore a range of issues including:

• Maintaining quality education through high quality teacher training
• Higher education and the Bologna process: Latest developments
• Improving mobility of staff and students
• The contribution of early childhood education to quality education
• Impact of pension reforms on female teachers
• Negotiation of pay and conditions – strengthening skills
• Education developments in the EU

In addition, they will celebrate World Teachers’ Day. October 5 is the day set aside by UNESCO to honour the contribution of teachers worldwide. This year’s theme focuses on the dramatic shortage of teachers worldwide, and the need for more professional training to enable teachers to provide quality education for all students. According to UNESCO, 18 million additional teachers are needed worldwide if universal primary education is to be achieved by 2015. An even greater number of teachers will be required if adequate provision of secondary, higher, technical and vocational, or non-formal education is to be assured.