ONE and a half years into the Covid-19 crisis, World Teachers’ Day will focus on the support teachers need to fully contribute to the recovery process.
Owing to the global context and following the spirit of the international benchmarks on the status of teaching personnel, this year’s observation of World Teachers’ Day will focus on the effect that the pandemic has had on education and teachers.
There will be a focus on the steps that need to be taken to ensure that teaching personnel develop their full potential to play the role expected of them in recovering from the pandemic and achieving the 2030 global education goal.
This global advocacy day will be observed around the world. The main objective would be of calling on governments and the international community to focus on teachers and the challenges facing the teaching profession and to share effective and promising policy responses.
Why is it significant?
The educational disruptions and school closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have confirmed the crucial role of teachers in maintaining learning continuity, but also in sustaining the very dynamics of households, families, and communities.
During the current crisis, we have witnessed how teachers have been at the heart of educational responses.
They have provided online teaching and learning, prepared take-home packages for students living in rural and remote areas that lack the connectivity and technologies needed to pursue online learning, adapted their practices and diversified the formats, means and contents of education to cater for the needs of learners, including their socioemotional well-being. They have also preserved and reinforced social interaction among learners, fellow teachers and school communities.
As a result, parents, communities, and education systems have engaged in discussions of the importance of teachers that could contribute to developing a renewed appreciation of teachers and their vital role in educational recovery and in supporting the social, economic, and cultural life of societies.
However, this high regard for the work of teachers has yet to be fully reflected in current policy measures and resource allocation for recovery since the Covid-19 crisis has highlighted major challenges for the teaching profession.
Preparing and supporting teachers to be at the heart of education recovery
For the post-pandemic recovery phase, it is essential to restore the role of teachers as key actors in rebuilding more adaptive education systems that are resilient against future shocks and always ensure equity and inclusion for all learners.
Therefore, the Global Education Meeting’s Ministerial Segment set as a priority the provision of support to all teachers and education personnel as frontline workers, consulting their representative organisations in decision-making, and ensuring their safety, well-being, and decent working conditions.
This is also why Unesco, Unicef and the World Bank launched a joint mission – Mission: Recovering Education in 2021. It focuses on supporting teachers, enabling all learners to return to school and to catch up on learning.
The transformations that we have witnessed in education and the challenges described hitherto call for new forms of policy support for teachers. It is needed for an effective recovery that leaves no one behind and that builds foundations for resilience-building and reimagining education.
The policy support that is needed covers several areas, including teachers’ professional development, participation in decision-making and working conditions. – The Vibes, October 5, 2021
*Read the full ‘World Teachers’ Day 2021: Teachers at the heart of education recovery’ by Unesco concept note here
