Go Public! Invest in Education Support Personnel: Ensure
inclusive education.
Education Support Personnel (ESP) have a critical role to play in supporting and sustaining educational communities and the students within them – especially those who have are excluded and marginalized.
Without ESP, schools would not be welcoming and clean, children would go hungry, their behavioural and health issues would go unaddressed, their academic, socio-emotional and practical needs would not be met, and they might not even make it to school safely.
Declining public education budgets and privatisation severely impact their job security, pay, workload, rights, and wellbeing. In the face of austerity, increasing privatisation and declining public funding, it is crucial to enable ESP to participate in shaping schools and education systems, to safeguard their rights and ensure good working conditions.
This means mobilizing and organizing ESP and a commitment to making sure their voices are meaningfully included in education unions.
Education Support Personnel are recognized annually on World Education Support Personnel Day introduced by Education International (EI) on
May 16th, 2018, to celebrate the vital role of ESP in equitable and inclusive
education systems and ensuring quality education for all.
Education International's longstanding advocacy for ESP Rights and Status
The recommendations of the United Nations on the teaching profession– where EI made sure the voice of all educators was heard – state that “education support personnel are key workers in education who should work interdependently with teachers and enjoy commensurate working conditions as teachers.”
World ESP Day webinar
To find out more about EI and the work of our member organizations join our World ESP Day meeting on May 14th. Click here to register.
The online meeting, Go Public! Invest in Education Support Personnel: Ensure inclusive education, will provide ample space for EI member organizations representing ESP to come together, share their experiences around the role of ESP in supporting inclusion in education, as well as union wins and challenges when supporting the inclusion of ESP in schools and union structures. We will also discuss how unionists best support each other and build union power to defend the rights and status of education support personnel.
Join our campaign and raise your voice for public education everywhere!
Spread the word by sharing the resources below as we mobilize to Go Public and fund ESP!
We have a sample World ESP Day video script and graphics (including EI logo). You can use it to record your own video for ESP Day to congratulate your members.
Raise your voice in support of Education Support Personnel on social networks. Use the suggested posts and images below and don’t forget to tag Education International so we can amplify your message:
Harnessing the power of education for inclusion: Education International joins the 2026 Global Appeal to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy
The 2026 Global Appeal to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy is co-hosted by Education International and the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) Initiative, in partnership with the Damien Foundation. This year’s appeal calls for an end to stigma and discrimination associated with leprosy through the transformative power...
Taiwan: Teachers fight back a punitive oversight system
Across Taiwan, thousands of educators, many waving "Save education!" signs demonstrated on January 25th, 2026, against what they describe as an abusive school incident management system that has eroded trust, undermined learning, and pushed teaching conditions to a breaking point. As they repeatedly voiced in the streets: “Education cannot survive...
Belgium: thousands take to the streets to defend public education and young people's future
In Brussels, between 6,500 and 8,000 people took part in a mass public march to protest against the austerity measures affecting education and young people in Belgium. The demonstration sought to mark a turning point and is part of a wider movement to defend the right to free, quality public...
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
14 November 2025
France: trade union mobilisation for education support staff essential to inclusive education
The CFDT Public Education, Training and Research Federation and its member unions recognise that “inclusive education represents a major democratic advance, by affirming the right of every child to learn within the French education system, regardless of their specific needs”. But the implementation of this principle is currently facing numerous...
