Ei-iE

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Fighting the commercialisation of education

Education is a human right and a public good that can be fully realised only through the provision of free, equitable, inclusive, quality public education. The growing commercialisation and privatisation in and of the sector is the greatest threat to the universal right to education.

Across the world, corporate interests are striving to transform all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education, into yet another market with winners and losers. As private-sector management models are applied to education institutions, employment conditions in the sector are being undermined. As low-fee, low-quality private schools expand rapidly, there is a risk that governments abrogate their responsibility to ensure the right to education for all. Unaccountable corporations have undue influence on education policies and institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this trend which risks transforming education into a commodity, favouring profit over quality education.

As educators, we put students before profit. In 2015 we launched our Global Response to the Commercialisation and Privatisation of Education. Through this campaign, we work to expose and challenge the policies and practices of governments, intergovernmental organisations and international financial institutions which undermine public education and the rights and status of teachers and education support personnel. We also resist global corporate actors, especially education technology providers, who push the commercialisation and privatisation in and of education.

Our work in this area

  1. News 21 August 2013

    TISA, a threat to free quality public education

    EI has sent out a briefing note on the Trade in International Services Agreement (TISA) to its affiliates, informing them about these trade negotiations that threaten to liberalise public services like healthcare and education.

    TISA, a threat to free quality public education
  2. News 5 July 2013

    Negotiations begin on new services deal

    Trade talks aimed at developing a new global services pact have begun following an agreement on a negotiating framework earlier this year.

    Negotiations begin on new services deal
  3. News 5 July 2013

    Brazilian ambassador to take WTO helm

    Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have formally appointed Brazil’s Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo as the group’s next director general, capping a six-month leadership contest.

    Brazilian ambassador to take WTO helm
  4. News 5 July 2013

    EU ministers seek cultural protections in talks with U.S.

    A group of 14 cultural ministers of the European Union are demanding that audio-visual services be excluded as a “cultural exemption” from planned free trade talks with the United States.

    EU ministers seek cultural protections in talks with U.S.
  5. News 18 February 2013

    Canada: Teachers’ guide to copyright released

    The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), one of EI’s national affiliates, has released the third edition of ‘Copyright Matters! Some Key Questions and Answers for Teachers’. The publication takes into account key changes that have occurred in the area of copyright since the previous edition, published in 2005.

    Canada: Teachers’ guide to copyright released
  6. News 3 December 2012

    Concerns raised over TPP proposals on copyright

    A number of groups are warning that a potential new trade deal could force countries across the Pacific region to impose new restrictions on copyright.

    Concerns raised over TPP proposals on copyright
  7. News 3 December 2012

    Europe and the United States eye free trade pact

    The European Union and the United States are set to launch talks early next year that officials say will create a trading bloc representing about half of the world’s economic output and nearly a third of global trade.

    Europe and the United States eye free trade pact
  8. News 3 December 2012

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement

    With World Trade Organisation negotiations stuck in neutral, a group of key WTO countries has launched a separate set of talks aimed at creating an International Services Agreement (ISA).

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement
  9. News 3 December 2012

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement

    With World Trade Organisation negotiations stuck in neutral, a group of key WTO countries has launched a separate set of talks aimed at creating an International Services Agreement (ISA).

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement
  10. 3 December 2012

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement

    With World Trade Organisation negotiations stuck in neutral, a group of key WTO countries has launched a separate set of talks aimed at creating an International Services Agreement (ISA).

    Negotiators press ahead with new services liberalisation agreement
  11. News 18 July 2012

    UK: Unions condemn plans to open more free schools

    The two largest of EI’s national affiliates in the UK, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), have strongly reacted against Downing Street's plans to open a further 100 free schools in England from next year onwards.

    UK: Unions condemn plans to open more free schools
  12. News 8 June 2012

    Developing countries frustrated by slow progress at WIPO

    A group of developing countries is calling on the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) to step up efforts to fully implement the Development Agenda adopted in 2007.

    Developing countries frustrated by slow progress at WIPO
  13. News 8 June 2012

    U.S. law professors slam Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

    Concerns over the secrecy and substance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations prompted 32 leading American legal scholars to send a letter to the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) demanding transparency in the process.

    U.S. law professors slam Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
  14. News 8 June 2012

    Rising opposition to ACTA in Europe

    The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is facing a growing backlash in Europe. On 31 May, all three committees of the European Parliament advising the International Trade Committee recommended rejecting the deal.

    Rising opposition to ACTA in Europe
  15. News 8 June 2012

    New global services talks launched

    A group of countries billing themselves as the “Really Good Friends of Services” have agreed to start negotiations on an ambitious new global free trade agreement covering all service sectors. Meeting in Geneva at the end of May, the group agreed in principle to begin talks on a new International...

    New global services talks launched
  16. News 27 January 2012

    After nearly two decades of negotiations, Russia was formally welcomed into the WTO fold at the Ministerial Conference in December.

    In joining the WTO, Russia had to modify nearly 300 pieces of legislation to conform with international trade rules, and agreed to lower tariffs across a number of industrial sectors and to reduce agricultural subsidies on dairy products and cereals.

    After nearly two decades of negotiations, Russia was formally welcomed into the WTO fold at the Ministerial Conference in December.
  17. News 27 January 2012

    Lamy and UN expert squabble over food security

    A public spate broke out between WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, during the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference in December.

    Lamy and UN expert squabble over food security