Make Curriculum Content Openly Licensed under Creative Commons
Background
Education is a universal right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26) and UNESCO's Education 2030 Agenda / SDG 4 affirm that everyone has the right to free, equitable, and quality education.
Yet, today much of the world's curriculum content - lesson outcomes, syllabuses, teaching resources - remains behind paywalls, restricted licences, or fragmented systems. This creates unnecessary barriers for teachers, students, and communities trying to learn, adapt, and share knowledge.
Curriculum exists for one purpose: to teach students. It is a public good, not a commodity.
The Petition
We, the undersigned, call on governments, education authorities, and international organisations to:
- Adopt Creative Commons licensing for all publicly funded curriculum content, ensuring that teachers, students, and families worldwide can access, adapt, and share it freely.
- Recognise curriculum as educational infrastructure, much like roads or clean water - something that should be openly available to all.
- Work with UNESCO to create global guidelines for curriculum openness, supporting the right to free education and reducing inequality across countries.
- Promote international collaboration, allowing teachers and students to learn from one another across borders without restrictive copyright barriers.
Why This Matters
- Equity:Open curricula level the playing field, especially for under-resourced schools and developing nations.
- Innovation:Free access encourages adaptation, localisation, and creative teaching approaches.
- Efficiency:Avoids duplication and wasted resources when multiple governments re-create the same materials in isolation.
- Rights:Ensures the global right to education is not undermined by copyright restrictions, and builds on international legal instruments.
Our Call
We urge national governments, curriculum authorities, and UNESCO to commit to releasing all curriculum documents and related teaching resources under Creative Commons licences.
Education is a right. Curriculum should be open.
Sign this petition to support free and open access to curriculum content worldwide.