THIS year’s World Teachers’ Day, which takes place every October 5th, marked the 50th anniversary of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers, which reaffirms the key role played by the teaching profession in the lives of their students and communities.
‘The desire to build equity – in the classroom, in the school and in society at large is the essence, if not the very soul, of the teaching profession,’ said Education International (EI) General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day at UNESCO in Paris. He added that ‘there is a social, human dynamic at the core of quality teaching and learning, and teachers are part of the glue that holds society together.’
Reflecting on 50 years of the Recommendation, this year’s WTD theme, ‘Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status’, embodied the fundamental principles of the Recommendation while shining a light on the need to support teachers as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
World Teachers’ Day not only recognises teachers as pivotal to the right to education, but highlights how they are key to achieving the targets set out in SDGs, especially SDG 4 pledging to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.
EI said: ‘Governments should demonstrate clear political will and commitment through concrete policy, legislative, financing and other measures to implement the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel, as well as the new SDG target on teachers.’
‘The same vision and ambition that led to the adoption of these progressive instruments should inspire all of us to implement them to the fullest,’ van Leeuwen said. Even though the world has changed considerably since the Recommendation was adopted in 1966, the importance of teachers has remained a constant. This is why EI is celebrating the Recommendation’s 50th anniversary given the enduring value and relevance of its ideas on education and the teaching profession.
EI firmly believes that teachers should have the status commensurate with their essential role in educational advancement and the development of humanity and society. In addition, teachers’ organisations should be recognised as forces that contribute to the advancement of education and should be associated with the determination of education policy.
For teachers to be successful, they need the professional space and autonomy to motivate, enlighten and inspire their students, van Leeuwen underlined. They also need safe teaching environments and a decent salary. To mark World Teachers’ Day, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released the first-ever estimates of how many teachers are needed to achieve the global goal for education by 2030.
In the next 14 years, countries must recruit almost 69 million teachers to provide every child with primary and secondary education: 24.4 million primary school teachers and 44.4 million secondary school teachers. Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) demands inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.
The needs are urgent, with an estimated 263 million children and youth still out of primary and secondary school globally, according to a new UIS paper. SDG 4 includes a specific call for more qualified teachers and more support from the international community for teacher training in developing countries. Teacher shortage is most severe in Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces the largest teacher gap: it will need a total of 17 million primary and secondary school teachers by 2030. It is also the region with the fastest-growing school-age population. It is already struggling to keep up with demand: more than 70% of the region’s countries face acute shortages of primary school teachers, rising to 90% for secondary education.
Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, said: ‘Teachers and students across the region contend with over-crowded classrooms in schools that often lack the most basic requirements, such as electricity and drinking water.
‘According to UIS data, the average pupil-teacher ratio at primary level is 42 but rises to more than 60 in countries such as Central African Republic (80), Chad (62), Ethiopia (64), and Malawi (61). Southern Asia has the second-largest teacher gap, which explains the overcrowded classrooms, particularly at secondary level.
‘The average pupil-teacher ratio stands at 34:1 at primary level and 29:1 (2014 estimates) at secondary level – far higher than the global average of 18:1. Southern Asia needs another 15 million teachers by 2030, the vast majority (11 million) at secondary level.
‘Other parts of the world face their own grave challenges. War in Syria and Iraq, for example, has destroyed large parts of the education systems in these countries, and has had a knock-on effect on neighbouring countries trying to cope with an influx of refugees.
‘According to the Syrian Ministry of Education, the number of teachers within Syria almost halved – falling by 46% – between 2012 and 2016. Some countries are on track. Myanmar, for example, has been increasing its recruitment rate by an average of 2% per year since 2007. If this growth continues, it should be able to accommodate all primary school-age children by 2018, while maintaining its average pupil-teacher ratio of 28:1.
‘Yet if current trends continue, 43 of the 102 countries facing the biggest challenges will still not have enough teachers in 2030. Unless something changes, more children will need primary teachers in 2030 than today in Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Lesotho, Mali, Pakistan, Senegal, and Uganda. The challenges are even greater at the secondary level – with more teachers in three out of four countries globally.
‘Of the 139 countries facing the biggest gaps, 73 will not have enough teachers to achieve universal secondary education until after the 2030 deadline. More than 60% are in sub-Saharan Africa. If current trends continue, more children will need secondary teachers in 2030 than today in Burundi, Central African Republic, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles and Uganda.
‘Improving education quality is not just about having enough teachers: many thousands of teachers have been recruited in countries where primary education systems have expanded rapidly, but they do not always meet minimum qualifications and training standards in their countries.
‘According to UIS data, in 31 of 96 countries with data, less than 80% of primary school teachers were reported to have been trained to national standards in 2014. Again, more than half of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
‘We need to find ways to keep teachers in the profession. By providing competitive salaries and a supportive school environment, countries can motivate those who are already in the profession and attract new recruits. Teachers also need to be motivated, supported, well trained and willing to continually improve their teaching approaches.
‘The new UIS estimates confirm the urgent need for millions of additional teachers to propel the world towards its education goals. Looking beyond the sheer quantity of teachers, there is also a pressing need for teachers who are well-trained, well-supported and commensurately paid.’
