As Public Service Day is observed around the world the importance of public education is front and centre as the United Nations works to finalise the Post-2015 development agenda.
With less than three months left before the United Nations rolls out the new Sustainable Development Goals, Public Service Day recognises how essential public services are in tackling the world’s greatest challenges, including achieving Education for All.
However, this year’s Public Service Day comes at a time when governments around the world continually look to the liberalisation of public services at national levels. However, the argument that commercialisation is cheaper and more efficient is heavily disputed around the world.
Education International (EI) and its European Region, the ETUCE, have made it clear that selling off public services not only sacrifices quality, but enriches private companies at the expense of citizens.
Both EI and the ETUCE want to see fair taxation policies that ensure the proper funding of public services for the benefit of society. As the voice of the world’s teachers, EI demands governments to remove public services from secret global trade deals, such as TiSA and TTIP, which put the right to free publicly-funded education at risk.