World Teachers’ Day: The world needs 8 million more teachers

Monday, October 5th, on World Teachers’ Day, Romanian pupils and teachers take a day off classes: neither at school, nor online. The day has been celebrated in Romania since 2013. The United Nations (UN) Agenda for Sustainable Development mentions that the world needs 8.3 million more teachers until 2030.

The World Teachers’ Day has been marked globally after the signing, in 1966, of the ILO (International Labour Organization) /UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This document and the one concerning higher education, adopted in 1997, make the international framework for teachers’ rights and responsibilities.

In 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which notes the need for quality education and therefore emphasizes the need of a substantial increase in the number of qualified teachers and the need to offer them additional motivation by valuing their work.

Until 2030, it is estimated the world needs over eight million more teachers: 3.2 million for universal primary school and 5.1 million for secondary school.

Leaders in crisis, shapers of future

The theme proposed by UNESCO for this year’s edition of the World Teachers’ Day is “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”.

The discussions will be held online and will cover topics such as building resilience and shaping the future of education and of the teaching profession

“The early twenty-first century has not been an easy time to be a teacher”, states the UNESCO note UNESCO dedicated to this year’s edition.

“There has been, without doubt, a decline in the status of the teaching profession globally, and respect for teachers more generally. Worldwide there is growing concern about the competence and qualification levels of teachers to the extent that families no longer systematically support teachers’ authority”, the document states.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly added to the challenges the teachers are confronted with, therefore, they need support more than ever in order to ensure the right to education, is written on the UNESCO web page dedicated to the observance.

The issue of teacher leadership in relation to crisis responses is critical in terms of their contribution to providing remote learning and support for vulnerable populations.

Romania also observes the International Day of Education (January 24), dedicated to the right to education and its role in peace and development, and the National Day of Primary School Teachers (June 6), which was established on Spiru Haret’s birth date, as an homage to this founder of schools in the Romanian language.

Foto credit: Freepik

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