This year, 2008, people around the world will work towards Quality Education to End Exclusion!

Issues of quality education and exclusion are two of the biggest problems in education around the world. Millions of children, including some right here in Canada, continue to miss out on a quality education because of poverty, conflict, illness, ethnicity, gender, and a host of other factors. Yet it is quality education than can help make a difference in the lives of these children and their families.

In 2007, people around the world formed the "World's Longest Chain" to send a message to world leaders about the importance education rights - a 'chain' to bring attention to the realities of education for disadvantaged peoples and what violations there are to education as a human right. The theme for 2007 was "Education Rights Now! JOIN UP!"

In Canada, over 1300 classrooms participated in Global Action Week learning and activities throughout spring 2007. The CGCE received beuatiful paper chains from classrooms from BC to Nova Scotia and points in between. Many of the chains made their way to Germany for the G8 meeting, where they were displayed with other paper chains from students around the world. Two Canadian MPs visited classrooms, while a dozen more attended the Canadian Teachers' Federation's annual Breakfast with Parliamentarians.

Over 3000 Canadians "Joined Up!" in the Worlds Longest Chain online to deliver their symbolic message of solidarity to world leaders.

2007 CGCE elementary kit: "Education Rights Now! Join Up!"

In 2006, Children, parents and teachers in 120 countries participated in Global Action Week "Every Child Needs a Teacher". They held mock court hearings, taught lessons, marched streets, painted pictures, made posters, met officials, voted for teachers and added their voice to the campaign. Read about each country's activities in the 2006 Big Book - Every Child Needs a Teacher [pg1-30], [pg31-60 Canada's part on pg. 31]

In Canada, children contributed to a "Large Poster for Education" with pictures and messages to the Prime Minister asking that their friends in developing countries be able to attend school and have a good teacher, and many more participated in activities in their classroom, from the 2006 CGCE elementary curriculum kit. The Minister of Heritage, Bev Oda, was among 130 Members of Parliament, Senators, teachers and union representatives that attended a CTF-sponsored breakfast in Parliament, which raised issues facing teachers in developing countries, and discussed what could be done about the drain of teachers who move from poor countries to wealthier ones such as Canada and the UK.

2006 CGCE elementary kit: "Send our Friends a Teacher"

In 2005, over five million people in more than 115 countries participated in the "Send My Friend to School" challenge. Their efforts produced three and a half million messages written on cut-out figures representing children out of school. Dubbed "friends", these figures address personal messages to world leaders to demand that the 100 million children out of school do not have to wait at the school gates any longer. These friends went on a long journey to be delivered to the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, as shown on "The Big Journey" world map. Read about each country's activities in the 2005 Big Book - Educate to End Poverty.

In Canada, the CGCE got off to a flying start. Information about GCE's Global Action Week was distributed to 11,000 schools and, in response, school children across Canada made a plethora of cut-out "friends". 200 of the cut-outs were displayed at the launch of Action Week, when over 100 teachers, politicians, civil servants and NGO employees ate a symbolic, "breakfast on Parliament Hill".

In 2004, the "World's Biggest Lobby" mobilized over 2 million people to press politicians to provide an education to every child during Global Action Week. Thousands of MPs and 14 heads of state met with children to hear their demands, and many pledged to take concrete actions such as increasing education budgets, introducing new laws or removing fees. Read about each country's activities in the 2004 Big Book of the World's Biggest Lobby.