Ei-iE

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teacher remote learning

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. Research

    Pandemic Privatisation in Higher Education: Edtech & University Reform

    Ben Williamson, Anna Hogan
    15 February 2021

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, a state of emergency engulfed higher education. The crisis of mass campus closures and a rapid ‘pivot’ to online learning became the context for attempts by private actors and commercial organisations to reconfigure the sector.

    Pandemic Privatisation in Higher Education: Edtech & University Reform
    1. Report
    2. Summary
  2. Worlds of Education 9 February 2021

    “Post-pandemic reform of higher education: Market-first or purpose-first digital transformation?”, by Ben Williamson and Anna Hogan.

    Ben Williamson, Anna Hogan

    Educational technologies have become central to higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state of emergency in tertiary systems worldwide has enabled private edtech companies, global tech businesses, and the networks of promoters backing them, to define the post-pandemic future of the university.

    “Post-pandemic reform of higher education: Market-first or purpose-first digital transformation?”, by Ben Williamson and Anna Hogan.
  3. News 8 December 2020

    WIPO’s missed opportunity to produce guidance on copyright exceptions hits education during pandemic

    A legal instrument on copyright exceptions for the use of materials for teaching, learning, research, and the work of cultural heritage organisations is still not available. According to Education International, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) missed an opportunity at its recent Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)...

    WIPO’s missed opportunity to produce guidance on copyright exceptions hits education during pandemic
  4. News 1 December 2020

    Educators seek to influence UNESCO's 2021/22 Global Education Monitoring Report

    Teacher unions have a key role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their voices must be heard. That’s according to Education International in its latest contribution to the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report consultations on non-state actors.

    Educators seek to influence UNESCO's 2021/22 Global Education Monitoring Report
  5. News 25 November 2020

    Survey Report | Teaching with Tech: The Role of Education Unions in Shaping the Future

    Today Education International released the report of its Future of Work in Education Global Survey on the use of technology in education. Produced by Dr Christina Colclough, the report was launched during a special session of the Education International Executive Board.

    Survey Report | Teaching with Tech: The Role of Education Unions in Shaping the Future
  6. Worlds of Education 20 November 2020

    The World Depends on Public Services and Public Services Require Political Will.

    Rosa Pavanelli, David Edwards

    As G20 world leaders meet, it is time for a fundamental overhaul of global investment policy to build for the future. That future depends on public services and the people who provide them. Crisis has brought recognition to “front-line” workers, public and private, who are both visible and essential. However,...

    The World Depends on Public Services and Public Services Require Political Will.
  7. News 18 November 2020

    Asia-Pacific : Global Union Federations in Region Condemn RCEP Trade Agreement

    Education International and six other Global Union Federations joined together in the Asia-Pacific Region to condemn the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), signed on Sunday, 15 November 2020. The trade pact was negotiated in secrecy over more than seven years and many provisions remain unknown. The GUFs cited the danger...

    Asia-Pacific : Global Union Federations in Region Condemn RCEP Trade Agreement
  8. Research

    Teaching with Tech: The role of education unions in shaping the future

    Christina J. Colclough
    27 October 2020

    The Future of Work is not just making the headlines - it has become an issue of increasing importance for students, teachers and the whole of society. While there is always an element of anticipatory anxiety when facing the future there has also been real concern about the arrival of...

    Teaching with Tech: The role of education unions in shaping the future
    1. Report
    2. Summary
  9. Worlds of Education 16 October 2020

    “Privatisation tendencies in Dominican education: Heterarchy, network governance and new philanthropy”, by D. Brent Edwards Jr., Mauro C. Moschetti, Alejandro Caravaca.

    Alejandro Caravaca, Mauro Moschetti, D. Brent Edwards Jr.

    The privatisation of education is manifesting in increasingly complex ways. These range from the participation of private actors in the provision of education services to the incorporation of business logics in public education. To be sure, the variety of forms in which this phenomenon manifests presents challenges when it comes...

    “Privatisation tendencies in Dominican education: Heterarchy, network governance and new philanthropy”, by D. Brent Edwards Jr., Mauro C. Moschetti, Alejandro Caravaca.
  10. News 16 October 2020

    New Study Examines Privatisation of Education in the Dominican Republic

    A new study published by Education International reveals the mechanisms that favour the privatisation of education in the Dominican Republic, exploring its impact on the education system and the right to quality education.

    New Study Examines Privatisation of Education in the Dominican Republic
  11. News 15 October 2020

    Iraq: Education union demands improvements in the education sector

    On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, 5 October, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) called on the government to improve educators’ working and living conditions and the quality of education at all levels.

    Iraq: Education union demands improvements in the education sector