WORLD TEACHERS' DAY

5 OCTOBER 2018

UNESCO & TALENT

In partnership with the Teaching and Learning Educator’s Network for Transformation (TALENT) UNESCO Dakar’s regional office will celebrate World Teachers' Day on 5 October 2018 under the theme: "The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher.”

This global celebration, organized each year by UNESCO and the International Labor Organization (ILO), in partnership with Education International, UNDP and UNICEF, will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). This Declaration enshrines education as a fundamental right and proclaims the right of all to free and compulsory education.

Teachers are a key link in the right to education. Without teachers, how can one discuss access, equity and quality of education? The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) call for deep changes in both spirit and action. Teaching is the most important driver of learning. To this end, it is essential that teachers are sufficiently trained to teach quality content, but also to evaluate learning and respond to the difficulties encountered by learners.
However, it is noted that teacher training, recruitment, retention, status and working conditions are issues of concern around the world. In Africa, 70% of countries still face a severe shortage of qualified teachers at the primary level and 90% at the secondary level. (Source: TALENT 2018, Advocacy document ODD4 for Sub-Saharan Africa N°1).

National governments should invest in teacher capacity building, through pre-service and in-service training, and increase monitoring of learning outcomes for all learners. Indeed, today in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is not a single country that has complete data on the number of students mastering the minimum thresholds of reading and mathematical competence.
The production and dissemination of data towards the achievement of SDG 4still represents a huge challenge for Africa by 2030.

To celebrate this World Teachers' Day, UNESCO and the TALENT network wish to encourage reflection on these issues through the following activities:

Regional activities:
- Online launch of TALENT advocacy document, which details the alarming rates of learning levels and the various recommendations for decision-makers to promote quality teaching and learning.
- Organization of a Live Forum on the UNESCO Dakar (Regional Office) Facebook page to discuss this year's advocacy document and theme
- Taking stock of the complex situation of teachers in Africa at the “Innovating Education in Africa” Expo organized by the African Union and the Senegalese Ministry of National Education in partnership with UNESCO Institute for Teacher Capacity Building (IICBA) [to be confirmed]

International celebration:
- International Conference on World Teachers' Day 2018 in Paris (France): Read the Program
- Joint message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UNDP, and David Edwards, Secretary-General of Education International, on the occasion of World Teachers' Day 2018