Social Dialogue

Social dialogue is understood to mean all forms of information sharing, consultation and negotiation between educational authorities, public and private, and education sector workers and their democratically elected representatives in teachers’ and other education sector workers’ organizations.

The Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts (CEART) declared in its 2003 Report:

"Social dialogue is the glue for successful educational reform. Without full involvement of teachers and their organizations – those most responsible for implementing reform – in key aspects of educational objectives and policies, education systems cannot hope to achieve quality education for all."

In its 2006 Report the CEART noted progress in recent years in many regions and recommended a number of actions by ILO member states, teachers’ organizations and education unions, and the ILO and UNESCO to foster sustainable social dialogue mechanisms in education, in the interests of education quality, good governance, appropriate terms and conditions of employment and professional teachers.

The ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 1966 has more than twenty recommendations on information sharing, consultation and negotiation between teachers and their employers.

The UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers in Higher Education, 1997 contains similar standards for social dialogue in higher education.

Useful links/resources

• Social dialogue in the education sector: An overview (pdf, 524k)
  Vere, Anamaria. Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, WP. 256. Geneva, 2007.
• Freedom of association and staff participation in higher education decision-making: A review (pdf, 316k)
  Vere, Anamaria. Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, WP. 257. Geneva, 2007.
• Social Dialogue, Labour Law and Labour Administration Branch, ILO
• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949