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:
Mexico: UNESCO celebrates teachers in recognition of their efforts to foster peace
Teachers from the SNTE (National Education Workers’ Union), affiliated to Education International, received international recognition for their leadership in educating generations of students committed to harmonious coexistence and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The ceremony took place at the UNESCO head office in Mexico, in the framework of the peace...
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
25 November 2025
Education union leaders drive change, demand action, and inspire hope for Africa
Education leaders from the EI Africa Regional Committee (EIARC) came together to celebrate hard-won progress, tackle persistent challenges, and renew their collective resolve to champion public education. With a clear focus on urging governments to prioritize and fully fund public education, participants reaffirmed their commitment to securing quality learning for...
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...
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
14 November 2025
Haiti: union mobilisation amid the security crisis and the state of emergency in public education
In a context marked by insecurity, precariousness, and political instability, Haitian education unions are stepping up their initiatives in defence of inclusive, high-quality public education. First-hand accounts and field studies bear witness to their considerable mobilisation efforts driven by the Go Public! Fund Education
campaign.
