Molloy joins board of 30-million strong int’l education body

Nadine Molloy has become the first Jamaican elected to serve on the executive board of Education International (EI), the more than 400-member federation of global teachers’ trade unions which represents upwards of 32 million education personnel.

The ascension of the former Jamaica Teachers’ Association president came after EI modified the constitution of its global union to promote gender balance. Open seats were increased from nine to 10 with 50 per cent of the seats designated for women.

With experience in the area of education as well as diplomacy – working as a teacher, librarian, lecturer and principal and delivering statements at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, as well as moderating – Molloy’s docket is filled with achievements and showcases her ambition.

“It gives the region an opportunity to have a female voice participating in EI matters. It also gives the region greater access to EI and the positive influence that it can bring to the development of our individual units and Caribbean Union of Teachers as both teacher unions and professional development associations,” Molloy, who is also principal of Ardenne High School and a member of the board of The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited, told The Gleaner from Bangkok, Thailand.

The new EI executive board will work to implement the policy directions decided by the Eighth EI World Congress, which was held from July 19-26 in Bangkok under the theme ‘Educators and their Unions Taking the Lead’. The EI World Congress serves as the supreme decision-making body of EI, thus determining the policies, actions, programmes and budget for the organisation as well as the platform for elections of the president, vice-presidents, general secretary, along with members of the executive board.

Tiara Thompson