Putting partnerships at the centre of efforts to address the global teacher shortage
In its 2024 election manifesto, the Labour Party pledged to, ‘...rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the Global South’.
The National Education Union (NEU) warmly welcomed this new approach and the opportunities it presented to tackle the global teacher shortage. Just as thousands of additional teachers are required in the UK, millions more teachers are needed globally. 44 million additional teachers must be recruited by 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals for education, including 15 million in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
A promise in peril
Just over a year into office, the Labour government’s commitment to rebuilding trust and relationships with the Global South is in jeopardy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to reduce the UK aid budget to 0.3% of gross national income by 2027 — to fund increased defence spending — has been condemned by humanitarian organisations as, ‘...cruel and shameful.’ Governments across the Global South, including a group of African education ministers, have also urged the UK to rethink its cuts.
The consequences of UK aid spending retreating to its lowest level in almost thirty years are already being felt. Schools are closing, teachers are going unpaid, and students are at risk of dropping out of education permanently.
In South Sudan, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has cancelled its flagship girls’ education programme, which had quadrupled girls’ enrolment in school, reaching over 1.2 million girls with cash transfers, helping them to enrol in school and complete their secondary education.
Rethinking the cuts
As the UK redefines its aid spending priorities, the NEU is calling on the UK government to sustain funding for education in emergencies and prioritise investment in teachers in emergency contexts.
Evidence shows that teachers are the single most important factor in children’s learning and recovery. In emergencies their role is even more vital. In addition to teaching, they are frontline professionals, supporting children’s psychological needs
and fostering an environment of safety, belonging and routine.
Despite their indispensable role, teachers in crisis contexts face severe challenges including low or no pay, threats to their safety and wellbeing, and little or no access to professional development and support. Pupil-teacher ratios often exceed 80:1 or even 120:1, and there is an acute shortage of female teachers.
Prioritise teachers to unlock education in emergencies
To mark World Teachers’ Day 2025, the NEU published a new policy briefing urging the UK Government to prioritise teachers across its policy, programming and financing. This means committing to advance the rights, working conditions, and supply of qualified teachers in emergency and protracted crises, ensuring that they are trained, paid, protected, and supported.
Achieving this is impossible without genuine international partnership. Fragile, conflict-affected, and refugee-hosting countries need sustained cooperation and support to implement strategies that address teacher shortages and uphold teachers’ rights.
The role of the wider international community is also crucial. The UN High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, established by the Secretary-General, highlighted the urgent need for donors to work together on sustainable, long-term mechanisms to ensure the timely and adequate payment of teacher salaries in crises. The UK Government has a key role to play, by providing both financial and technical support.
To unlock the transformative power of education, in Palestine, Ukraine, and every place where children’s futures hang in the balance, we must put teachers and partnerships at the heart of the UK’s global education and development agenda.
Read the NEU’s new policy briefing at www.neu.org.uk/about/international
BY Oliver Mawhinney
International Policy Specialist at the National Education Union
