Albany School Blog: World Teachers’ Day 2014: Invest in the future, invest in teachers!

domingo, 5 de octubre de 2014

World Teachers’ Day 2014: Invest in the future, invest in teachers!

On 5th of October 1994 UNESCO proclaimed World Teachers' Day and since then it has been celebrated around the world as an initiative to assess and improve teaching and learning conditions.

Under the UNESCO work, a set of recommendations has been created which gives teachers the opportunity to participate in educational decisions and negotiations and sets the basis for a global qualitative education.

The recommendations take into account the educators' continuous professional development and training and the protections of teachers' rights.

A quality education plays a crucial role in building one nation' s future. But quality education is interweaved with competent and motivated teachers.

Investment in teachers is investment in the country 's future.

Some facts and statistics:

According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics there is a worldwide necessity of 1.4 million teachers. But apart from this deficit, many teachers work without resources or proper labour conditions.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest need for additional primary teachers by 2015, at 0.9 million (representing 63% of the world total).

Globally 58 million children of primary school age are currently out of school, 53% of them are girls.

The Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda states the essentials for supporting teachers’ effectiveness:

good conditions of employment, including appropriate contracts and salaries, and prospects for career progression and promotion;

good conditions in the work environment, based on creating school contexts that are conducive to teaching;

high-quality pre-and in-service training for teachers, based on respect for human rights and the principles of inclusive education; and (4) effective management, including teacher recruitment and deployment.