Why We Celebrate World Teachers' Day
Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to global and sustainable development. Today, Oct. 5, we celebrate World Teachers' Day to honor teachers and educators whom are the means to implementing education goals around the world.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed Oct. 5 to be World Teachers' Day in 1994, celebrating the great step made for teachers on Oct. 5, 1996, when a conference convened by UNESCO in Paris adopted the UNESCO/International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation concerning the status of teachers.
According to the UNESCO website, the recommendation set fourth the rights and responsibilities of teachers as well as international standards for their preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, teaching and learning conditions.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates that to achieve universal primary education by 2020, countries will need to recruit a total of 12.6 million primary teachers. World Teachers' Day highlights the fact that teachers must be empowered as a critical step towards quality education and sustainable societies.
This is a day to not only honor teachers for their work, but to also rethink global issues involving education.
Did You Know?
According to the United Nations:
- Enrollment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 percent, but 57 million children still remain out of school.
- More than half of the children that are not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa.
- An estimated 50 percent of out-of-school children of primary school age live in conflict-affected areas.
- 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 percent of them are women.
Although much progress has been made towards increasing access to education and increasing enrollment, the facts mentioned above are alarming. More efforts are needed to make greater strides of achieving universal education goals.
UN Targets for Education
The UN has comprised a list of targets to reach in a specific amount of time in order to make the greater strides of improving education around the world:
- By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys are able to complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes
- By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary education
- By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational, and tertiary education, including university.
- By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship
- By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations
- By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
- By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to sustainable development
- Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability, and gender sensitive and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
- By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programs, in developed countries and other developing countries
- By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states
Planet Aid's Commitment to Supporting Global Education
Many developing nations suffer from a serious shortage of well-qualified primary school teachers. Rural areas are often particularly underserved, with one teacher often having have to teach a classroom filled with as many as 120 students.
Planet Aid is helping to meet the shortage of primary school teachers by supporting teacher training in Mozambique, Malawi, India, Guinea-Bissau, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola. We also support vocational and early educational initiatives.
The colleges that Planet Aid supports utilize the DNS Teacher Training Method, a pedagogical approach suited to rural developing areas. DNS helps to inspire teachers to become self-driven and effective catalysts for change in both the classroom and the community. The colleges are also each approved by their respective ministries of education as institutions offering accredited programs.