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:
Education unions join forces to support teachers in Palestine as they keep education alive against all odds
Education International member organisations in Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom have teamed up for a project in support of the General Union of Palestinian Teachers, its members, and their students.
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
15 July 2025
Ethiopia and Nepal: Go Public! campaign showing strong results with solidarity and strategic advocacy
In a world where education systems are increasingly under threat from austerity measures and privatization, EI’s Go Public! campaign has emerged as a powerful force for change, as demonstrated during a recent EI Development Cooperation (DC) Café gathering union leaders and partners.
Education International opens consultations to ensure voice of the profession is heard in the revision of international Recommendations on the status of teaching personnel
In the lead up to the revision of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966) and the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel (1997), Education International (EI) has launched a consultation process with its 375 member organisations representing over 33 million educators in 180 countries...
Education support personnel are key to quality inclusive public education: A call for recognition and fair treatment
Education Support Personnel
(ESP) are the backbone of our schools, yet they often face discrimination, low wages, and lack of job security. On World ESP Day, May 16th, education unions worldwide raised their voices to recognition and demand better conditions.
