From:
Vaughn Wadelius
President/Président
ACER-CART
OTTAWA…. Teachers across Canada and around the world are asking the Conservative government to override the bureaucratic decision that rejects the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) proposal. It would have involved tens of thousands of Canadian and overseas teachers working together to deliver quality education in developing countries.
“The global education community is reeling from the shock after being informed of the CIDA decision,” says CTF President Mary-Lou Donnelly. “We have received an overwhelming number of letters and emails from a cross-section of Canadian and overseas teachers, ministers of education, partner organizations and global education networks.
“The five-year proposal builds on 50 years of partnership with the government of Canada and overseas partners. Not only are Canadian teachers dedicated as international volunteers, they have the valuable training and essential skills to work with their teacher colleagues and help improve teaching and learning in developing countries.
Canadian teachers have been praised worldwide for their work as pioneers and promoters of quality education. CTF’s International Programs have one focus: helping local teachers deliver quality education. Here’s how Canadian teachers help:
Provide professional development for over 13,000 under trained teachers and nearly 2,300 teacher trainers who will be sharing their skills with 23,000 additional
teachers in marginalized areas of developing countries;
Lead projects designed to meet the national goals of quality “Education For All” in Ghana, Guinea, Mongolia, Uganda, India, Mozambique, Burkina Faso,
Sierra Leone and Togo;
Train teachers to help achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including gender equality, health disease prevention, eradication of extreme poverty and
global partnership for development, just to name a few.
“Teachers here and around the world urge the Minister to intervene today for the sake of the 40,000 overseas teachers and their over 2-million students who would benefit from the CTF program. Canada’s image as a champion for quality public education depends on it,” concludes Donnelly.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation speaks for nearly 200,000 teachers in Canada as their national voice on education and related social issues. CTF is also a member of the international body of teachers, Education International.
Comments: Mary-Lou Donnelly, CTF President
Contact: Francine Filion, CTF Communications Director, 613-688-4314 or 613-899-4247 (cell)
Background information: Barbara MacDonald Moore, CTF Director of International Programs, 613-688-4304
The following (in red) is communication from CTA to ACER-CART regarding the CIDA rejection, as well as ACER-CART response:
To: ACER-CART Directors from Vaughn Wadelius, President ACER-CART
While I received this email today as a former PO (Project Overseas) participant... and responded immediately to support CTF in this. I also polled the
ACER-CART executive, and I will be supporting the CTF as the President of ACER-CART. You may wish to advise your organization of this development and consider
similar action.
Letter to Vaughn Wadelius from CTF:
Subject: CTF International Cooperation Programs need your support! - Les programmes de coopération internationale de la FCE ont besoins de votre support!
Dear PO Alumni
On Friday January 28, the Director of our International Programs, Barbara MacDonald Moore, was advised by CIDA staff that the 2010-15 Program proposal submitted by
CTF for financing of our International work has been rejected. CTF has been without CIDA money for four months while the approval process continued and will
receive no funding from CIDA, unless we can quickly get the Minister of International Cooperation to intervene. This is where you come in.
We are looking to our alumni to help us sustain the work which is done by CTF members with our International partners. Help us overturn the decision so that we
can retain our committed and experienced staff and not close programming that is so close to being locally sustainable.
CIDA contributions supplement Member Organization sponsorship for PO, especially for in-country activities. However, we plan to continue PO 2011, which will be the
50th Project Overseas summer.
As you are aware, PO is frequently the only Professional Development that active teachers in developing countries receive, and it remains an integral component of
CTF International work. The PD support our partners receive not only increases the quality of education delivery in classrooms, but assists partners as they
extend the reach of quality education as part of national “Education for All” targets in their respective countries. The impact is great. PO 2011 is scheduled to
have 52 Canadian teachers working with 74 co-tutors to offer PD to 2,056 teachers. This will have a direct impact on more than 100,000 children in 12 countries and
includes a training of trainers for sustainability and replication.
Many other CTF sponsored projects undertaken with our partners will not continue as a result of the CIDA decision. For example, this means that ESL teachers in
Mongolia will no longer be receiving support from the English Teaching Resource Centre, communities in Ghana will no longer be mobilized, the Teacher Action for
Girls (TAG) program in Uganda will no longer be supported by CTF and the Caribbean training for young leaders will not continue. The women teacher networks will not
have support for their campaigns for women’s rights, and the Pan African Teachers’ Centre will not produce badly needed supplementary readers written by trained
African teachers.
If we act by Wednesday, February 02, and appeal directly to the Canadian Minister for International Cooperation, there is still a possibility that we may receive a
reprieve from the CIDA decision.
For this reason, I am appealing to you to send an e-mail to the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, (bev.oda@acdi-cida.gc.ca and Oda.B@parl.gc.ca) Minister for
International Cooperation asking her to take action on the CIDA Partnership Branch decision and ensure these valuable partnerships and projects go forward.
Please copy Barbara MacDonald Moore (bmacd@ctf-fce.ca), Hilarion (hmela@ctf-fce.ca), and the CTF President (mldonnelly@ctf-fce.ca).
In your letter it would be important to mention that CTF provides a unique service focussed on direct support to teachers and students, that the CTF program is
efficient and direct with no corruption and no waste, that the CTF program supports EFA and MDG goals of Canada and that the CTF program has a great reputation and
has earned kudos worldwide.
It is urgent that the minister receive hundreds of e-mails before Wednesday. You are also urged to contact MPs of the Conservative party, to ask their support,
but kindly request that you do not contact members of the opposition parties before Thursday. That’s when we plan to launch a broader campaign, should this not be
resolved within current Government channels.
Please tell MPs about positive experiences with CTF International Programs and of their impacts overseas and in Canada. CIDA may have other “windows” for
project support, but we need to keep the momentum of Program as timely and sustainable push to 2015.
Your participation in CTF PO programs has enriched many lives, and we appreciate your support so that many more can be affected.
Chers anciens volontaires du PO,
Le vendredi 28 janvier, Barbara MacDonald Moore, directrice des Programmes internationaux, a été informée par le personnel de l’ACDI que la proposition de
financement du Programme de coopération internationale 2010-2015 soumise par la FCE avait été refusée. La FCE n’a reçu aucuns fonds de l’ACDI au cours des
quatre derniers mois, alors que le processus d’approbation poursuivait son cours, et ne recevra au bout de la ligne aucun montant de l’ACDI à moins que nous ne
convainquions la ministre de la Coopération internationale d’intervenir. C’est là où votre collaboration entre en jeu.
Nous faisons appel à nos anciens volontaires afin que nous puissions poursuivre le travail qu’effectuent les Membres de la FCE auprès de nos partenaires étrangers.
Aidez-nous à faire annuler cette décision pour que nous puissions conserver notre personnel engagé et expérimenté et ne pas mettre fin à des programmes qui sont
si près de devenir localement durables.
Les contributions de l’ACDI s’ajoutent aux fonds de parrainage versés par les organisations Membres au PO, en particulier pour les activités menées dans les pays
d’accueil. Cependant, nous prévoyons continuer le PO 2011, qui célèbrera cet été son 50e anniversaire.
Comme vous le savez, le Projet outre-mer constitue souvent la seule source de perfectionnement professionnel dont bénéficient les enseignantes et enseignants en
exercice dans les pays en développement et fait partie intégrante du travail international de la FCE. L’appui sous forme de perfectionnement professionnel que
reçoivent nos partenaires non seulement rehausse la qualité de l’éducation en classe, mais également les aide à accroitre le rayonnement d’une éducation de
qualité dans le cadre des cibles nationales de « L’éducation pour tous et toutes » (EPT) dans leurs pays respectifs. L’impact est extraordinaire. Au total, dans
le PO 2011, 52 enseignantes et enseignants canadiens collaboreront avec 74 coïnstructrices et coïnstructeurs pour offrir des activités de perfectionnement
professionnel à 2 056 membres du personnel enseignant. Cela aura une incidence directe sur plus de 100 000 enfants dans 12 pays et comprendra un volet de
formation des formateurs et formatrices aux fins de durabilité et de reproduction.
Beaucoup d’autres projets parrainés par la FCE et entrepris avec nos partenaires cesseront par suite de la décision de l’ACDI. Par exemple, les enseignantes et
enseignants d’anglais langue seconde en Mongolie ne recevront plus d’appui du centre des ressources pédagogiques en anglais, les communautés ghanéennes ne
seront plus mobilisées, le programme Teacher Action for Girls (TAG) en Ouganda ne recevra plus l’appui de la FCE, et la formation destinée aux jeunes
enseignantes et enseignants dans les Caraïbes prendra fin. Les réseaux d’enseignantes ne seront plus soutenus dans leur campagne en faveur des droits des
femmes, et le Centre panafricain des enseignants ne produira plus de livres de lecture supplémentaires, si nécessaires, écrits par des enseignantes et
enseignants africains formés à cette fin.
Si nous agissons d’ici le mercredi 2 février et nous adressons directement à la ministre canadienne de la Coopération internationale, il est possible que nous
obtenions un sursis.
C’est pourquoi je vous implore d’envoyer un courriel à l’honorable Beverley J. Oda (bev.oda@acdi-cida.gc.ca et Oda.B@parl.gc.ca), ministre de la Coopération
internationale, la priant d’agir au sujet de la décision prise par la Direction générale du partenariat canadien de l’ACDI et de veiller à ce que ces précieux
partenariats et projets aillent de l’avant. Veuillez envoyer une copie de votre courriel à Barbara MacDonald Moore (bmacd@ctf-fce.ca) ainsi qu’à Hilarion et la
présidente de la FCE (mldonnelly@ctf-fce.ca).
Il serait important de mentionner dans votre lettre que la FCE fournit un service unique, axé sur l’appui direct aux enseignantes et enseignants ainsi qu’aux
élèves, que le Programme de la FCE est efficace et offre une aide directe et n’est entaché ni de corruption ni de gaspillage de fonds, que le Programme de la
FCE appuie l’EPT et les objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement du Canada, et que le Programme de la FCE jouit d’une excellente réputation et d’un
grand prestige dans le monde entier.
Nous devons de toute urgence faire parvenir à la ministre des centaines de courriels d’ici mercredi. Nous vous prions également de communiquer avec les députées et
députés du Parti conservateur afin de solliciter leur appui, mais de ne pas communiquer avec des membres des partis de l’opposition avant jeudi. C’est alors que
nous lancerons vraisemblablement une campagne plus vaste si cette question n’est pas résolue par les voies gouvernementales habituelles.
Veuillez informer les députées et députés des expériences positives que vous a procurées le Programme de coopération internationale de la FCE et du
retentissement de ce programme à l’étranger et au Canada. L’ACDI compte peut-être offrir d’autres « possibilités » de soutien à des projets, mais il nous faut
préserver l’élan donné au Programme jusqu’en 2015.
Votre participation au PO de la FCE a enrichi bien des vies, et nous vous sommes reconnaissants de nous accorder votre appui afin que beaucoup d’autres vies
puissent être ainsi touchées.
Below in blue is a copy of the letter sent by PEIRTA President James MacAulay to Minister Oda and all PEI MP'S.
February 14, 2011
Dear Minister Oda:
We understand that The Canadian Teachers’ Federation has been informed that its application for funding its International Program has been rejected this
year. This decision will seriously impact their international cooperation program and staffing.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation provides an unique service, focused on direct support to overseas teachers in partner countries, for the delivery of
quality education. The Canadian Teachers’ Federation program is efficient and direct with no corruption, no waste (with clear audits) and positive evaluations.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation program contributes to Canada’s support for the global “Education for all” and Millennium Development goals. It is
directly aligned with the CIDA strategy for children and youth.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation program has a great reputation across Canada and has received worldwide kudos for effective contributions to the professionalism of
teacher organizations and their members.
Rejecting the program effectively cancels official Canadian support. It gives a wrong impression of the quality of Canadian Teacher Federation programs and
eliminates a needed source that is not being provided elsewhere. Such rejection impedes the progress of sustainable teacher enhancement of national education
plans.
We join with countless people in this country in appealing to you to reverse this decision. When you consider that The Canadian Teacher’s Federation
picks up forty percent of the costs, the cost effectiveness of this program to government is major. Please make us aware of your final decision on this valuable
program.
Sincerely,
Hon. Bevery Oda
House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada
James MacAulay, President
Prince Edward Island Retired Teachers’ Association
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