AFRECON 2025 Side Event – Empowering Education Support Personnel in Africa and MENA

This side event brought visibility to the often-invisible workforce that sustains education systems across Africa and the Arab region. Discussions highlighted systemic neglect, structural injustice, and the urgent need to reframe Education Support Personnel (ESP) as essential contributors to quality public education.

1. The Invisibility and Misclassification of Education Support Workers 

Across the region, Education Support Personnels, cleaners, security workers, librarians, ICT staff, cooks, bursars, lab technicians and more, remain classified as “support staff providing a connotation of  being second-class” staff. This nomenclature reinforces inequality and diminishes their professional value.

Key concerns included:

• Workload intensification

• Casualisation of work

• Lack of career progression

• Exclusion from professional development and policy processes

2. Global and National Pressures Undermining Education Support Workers 

Speakers highlighted the dual pressures of global austerity and domestic policy failures. IMF-driven wage ceilings, recruitment bans, and shrinking public budgets have left Education Support Workers  understaffed, underpaid, and undervalued.

Common challenges raised:

• Delayed recruitment and wage bill ceilings

• Outsourcing of core public education functions

• Low budget allocations and corruption

• Divide-and-rule strategies fragmenting workers by job category

3. Organising Within a Fragmented Sector

Union leaders emphasised unity between teaching and non-teaching staff. Fragmented unions weaken collective bargaining power.

Key strategies:

• Negotiating budget-backed CBAs

• Building alliances across education levels

• Strengthening cross-border learning and solidarity

• Including Education Support Workers in policy formulation and reforms

4. Gender, Care Work & Social Justice Dimensions

Women Education Support Workers bear disproportionate burdens of unpaid care work and face workplace discrimination, job insecurity, and heightened risks of GBV.

Priorities identified:

• Integrating GBV prevention into CBAs

• Recognising care work as a labour rights issue

• Supporting both workplace and domestic violence survivors

5. Regional Perspectives: Africa–Arab Synergies

Shared experiences across regions included:

• Lack of strike rights and union repression in some Arab states

• Poor working conditions and limited rights recognition

• Proliferation of unregulated private schools

• Lack of adult education and literacy programmes

Delegates called for deeper Africa–Arab exchanges, benchmarking, and coordinated union action.

Core Takeaways & Recommendations

The following regional priorities emerged:

1. Redefine and elevate ESP identity

Replace discriminatory nomenclature and integrate ESP concerns into education and labour reforms.

2. Challenge austerity and privatisation

Demand increased public financing and resistance to outsourcing.

3. Strengthen organising and solidarity

Build unity between teaching and non-teaching staff and enhance PSI solidarity missions.

4. Advocate for fair remuneration and career progression

Ensure CBAs provide clear, budgeted gains and equal pay for equal value.

5. Address GBV, care work, and discrimination

Adopt gender-responsive policies and protections.

6. Integrate ESP struggles into PSI’s regional and global agenda

Amplify ESP voices in all PSI campaigns.

Closing Reflection

The session affirmed that Education Support Workers  are the backbone of public education, and reclaiming dignity requires organising power, policy engagement, and cross-regional solidarity. The outcomes from this side event will inform PSI’s ongoing advocacy to ensure that every education worker is recognised, protected, and valued.