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| Kisojo model primary school in Kyenjojo district in Uganda. Photo: UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani |
Washington: Some 1.7 million more
teachers are needed to achieve universal primary education by 2015, the second
of the eight anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the heads of various
United Nations agencies said on Friday in a joint
statement marking World Teachers' Day.
“On this day, we call
for the creation of supportive teaching environments, adequate teacher training
and safeguards for the rights of teachers,” the agency chiefs said, calling on
governments to provide required training and fair salaries reflecting the
importance of the profession while teachers, in turn, must be accountable to
their students and communities.
“We must break the
vicious cycle of declining professional conditions for teachers in order to
improve the quality of learning for all,” they added. “The world expects a lot
from teachers – they, in turn, are right to expect as much from us.”
The statement was
issued by UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina
Bokova; the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Executive Director, Anthony Lake; the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark; the UN
International Labour Organization's (ILO) Director-General, Guy
Ryder; and Fred van Leeuwen, the General Secretary of Education International,
which represents teachers' organizations across the globe.
“Attracting committed
and diverse teachers requires environments that value professional autonomy and
equality,” they said. “Teachers need to be supported in fulfilling their
responsibilities to students, and their voices must be listened to by school
leaders, education systems and public authorities.”
According to UNESCO,
teacher shortages remain a major obstacle for countries to achieve the goal of
universal primary education, with a quality education offering hope and the
promise of a better standard of living, while also noting that there can be no
quality education without competent and motivated teachers.
World Teachers' Day,
held annually since 1994, commemorates the anniversary of the signing in 1966
of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, and
celebrates the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all
levels. The Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers has, essentially,
served as a charter of rights for teachers worldwide.
The slogan for this
year's observance is 'Take a stand for teachers!' which, according to UNESCO,
relates to the need to provide adequate training, ongoing professional
development, and protection for teachers' rights.
The 63-year-old UN
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which assists some five
million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East, marked the Day by
launching two programmes focussed on school-based teacher development and
quality improvement that underscores the Agency's broader human development and
humanitarian agenda.