Every year, over one hundred countries celebrate World Teachers' Day on October 5. This is a professional holiday for all teachers, educators, and education workers – a day that recognizes the role and contributions of teachers in providing quality education at all levels, as well as their invaluable contribution to the development of society.
The historical precursor to the establishment of World Teachers' Day was the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers held in Paris on October 5, 1966. As a result, UNESCO and the International Labour Organization signed a document titled "Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers."
In 1994, World Teachers' Day was celebrated on this date for the first time, and since then, festive events have been held on October 5 every year, although in some countries, the holiday is observed on other days close to this date. The main goal is to ensure that celebrations do not coincide with autumn breaks in the Northern Hemisphere and spring breaks in the Southern Hemisphere.
Today, on World Teachers' Day, which each year focuses on a specific theme, the UN encourages parents and all citizens to take a moment to reflect on how a good teacher has changed their lives and left a lasting impact on their memory.
In recent years, there has been a mass exodus of teachers, driven by factors such as cuts to public service worker budgets, lack of adequate working conditions, the impending retirement of older teachers, stress, physical and mental exhaustion, and in many countries, a significant number of teachers lost to AIDS.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges already faced by overburdened education systems worldwide, making it essential to work with teachers to protect the right to education and adapt it to the new realities shaped by the pandemic.
According to UNESCO's Institute for Statistics, countries need to recruit an additional 24 million teachers by 2030 to ensure universal primary education (UPE), and nearly twice as many for secondary education. The shortage of teachers is most acute in Sub-Saharan Africa.
On the occasion of World Teachers' Day, UNESCO and its partners urge everyone to help spread the word that October 5 is World Teachers' Day and that investing in teachers means investing in the future. The international community and governments must unite their efforts to support teachers and promote quality education worldwide, especially in countries where a large number of children lack access to education.