IFWEA General Secretary Saliem Patel was interviewed by Finnish publication Demokraati, whilst on an intensive study visit to Sweden, Norway and Finland last year. The visit was focused on building international collaboration within the worker education movement.

Text Anna-Liisa Blomberg / Photos Nora Vilva

We live in a time when social media constantly bombards us with misinformation and stupidity seems to be
celebrated.
“I call it nonsense,”says Saliem Patel, Secretary General of the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), the global umbrella organisation for workers’ education associations, with a chuckle.
With communication systems capable of spreading to entire populations in seconds, all kinds of education and training for the working class is extremely important, he says.
“It’s so important because we can’t stop others from spreading misinformation. The only antidote is to help people understand that not everything should be taken at face value – that they need to be able to think critically about things.
Education is needed not only to verify information, but also to respond to false information that destroys the social fabric of societies, Patel says.

To download the full interview (in Finnish) click here.

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