Ei-iE

Education Support Personnel

Spotlight

Education support personnel cover a wide range of professional, administrative, technical, and general staff working within the education sector such as teaching assistants, school nurses and psychologists, bursars, and bus drivers, among others.

Education support personnel are vital to the delivery of quality education and to ensuring a safe and positive learning environment. They must be recognised for their work in the education community and enjoy the same status, rights, and conditions as other education personnel with similar academic and technical qualifications and experience, as outlined in the Education International Declaration on the Rights and Status of Education Support Personnel.

An ever-growing number of education support personnel are employed on a casual, part-time or limited-term basis. We are particularly concerned about the increased exploitation of education support personnel, the absence of decent work conditions, and the violation of fundamental human and labour rights, such as the right to organise and bargain collectively.

We advocate for education support personnel to be guaranteed the right to a safe and healthy work environment, professional support and guidance as well as possibilities for career development. As education professionals, they must be able to contribute to and participate in decision-making in their educational institutions, particularly on issues directly affecting their jobs.

On the 16th of May 2018 we introduced and celebrated the first World Education Support Personnel Day. Every year, we mark this day to highlight and raise awareness of the critical role of education support personnel in the provision of quality education across the world.

Our work for education support personnel

  1. Standards and working conditions

    Declaration on the rights and status of Education Support Personnel

    A declaration adopted at Education International’s first ever Conference on Education Support Personnel, from 15th to 16th May 2018 in Brussels
    16 May 2018

    Education International proclaims this declaration on the rights and status of education support personnel, calling for its application worldwide. In doing so, we reaffirm and defend education as a human right and public good, guaranteed by the state. This declaration builds on EI policy and should be read in the...

    Declaration on the rights and status of Education Support Personnel
  2. Standards and working conditions 17 May 2022

    Decent work for education support personnel now!

    On the occasion of World Education Support Personnel (ESP) Day , Education International organised a virtual event where member organisations representing ESP at all education levels and in every corner of the globe highlighted the crucial yet underrecognised role played by ESP in quality education systems, as well as the...

    Read more Decent work for education support personnel now!
  3. Standards and working conditions 16 May 2022

    Education Support Personnel build and protect universities

    Matthew McGowan

    The idea of a university is a noble and important one. A place where knowledge can be shared, tested, developed and expanded. Where people can interrogate everything important about who we are, how the world works and how we fit within it. This happens in an environment built on freedom...

    Read more Education Support Personnel build and protect universities
  4. Standards and working conditions 13 May 2022

    Celebrate education support personnel with us!

    On May 16th, Education International and its member organisations will mark the fifth edition of World Education Support Personnel (ESP) Day by holding an online meeting around this year’s theme, Decent Work for ESP Now!

    Read more Celebrate education support personnel with us!
  5. Future of work in education

    The Global Report on the Status of Teachers 2021

    Greg Thompson
    12 October 2021

    The status of teachers remains a concern in many jurisdictions. Teachers are aware that holding the same qualifications or levels of training as other professions does not bring the same status, despite teaching and facilitating learning being complex work that requires significant expertise.

    The Global Report on the Status of Teachers 2021
    1. The Global Report on the Status of Teachers
    2. The Global Report on the Status of Teachers | Summary
more: Our work for education support personnel

Our policy on education support personnel