World Teachers’ Day is observed globally on 5 October each year to honor the contributions of teachers. Established in 1994, it marks the anniversary of the signing of a recommendation by the International Labour Organization and UNESCO. If we are going to reach the SDGs, teachers have to be looked after better.
It is widely known that education is a driver of social progress. Studies show that there is a positive correlation between an educated workforce in a country and its GDP: a good education allows for greater access to employment. The value of education goes beyond finances however: an educated population will, in general, have a more informed and critical approach to its own governance, partaking actively in democracy and scrutinizing the accountability of leadership. From the French political historian Alexis de Tocqueville to the American educational theorist John Dewey, philosophers have established the all-important link between education and democracy for centuries, especially when it comes to an education that nurtures critical thinking.
Education does not happen by itself, at least not a technical, counter-intuitive education which brings children to higher levels of literacy, numeracy, conceptual understanding and specialization, it takes teachers to do this. Therefore, the role of teachers in social development is central. Teachers are the backbone of social progress.
The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals relate to teaching and learning, not just in the narrow sense of achieving SDG 17 (quality education for all), but in the more general sense that the transformation of mindsets needed for a more sustainable and peaceful future, the necessary transmission of knowledge required for this and the necessary listening to the voice of the youth are all fundamentally pedagogical. In a manner of speaking, it is a vast educational process that is needed to take us to the Sustainable Development Goals’ landing space. Therefore, the role of teachers – both informal and formal – in the overarching system of political and sociological evolution is of equally critical importance to the role they have in building the economy.
Because of this, it stands to reason that teachers should be supported and developed as much as possible, for the good of both collective and public goods. However, over the last decades, in many countries, this has been less and less the case, and today the teaching profession is faced by pressing logistical needs.
Forty four million extra teachers are needed to achieve universal education by 2030. In Africa, where the world’s fastest growing population is and, therefore, where the need for education is particularly important, 15 million extra teachers will be needed by 2030. The countries most in need of primary teachers are Central African Republic, Chad, Mali and Niger. In Latin America and the Caribbean, at least 3.2 million teachers are lacking.
Importantly, education systems need to be transformed for teachers to be fully supported in their work, at the levels of employment, social recognition, and social security.
However, the teaching profession is under threat as fewer and fewer people look to it as a career path. A 2022 survey run by the University of Chicago found that few Americans would encourage a young person to become a teacher because the profession is seen as “low-paying, stressful, and unsafe.” The situation has become so chronic that Harvard University dropped its undergraduate teacher training program. A dearth in teacher recruitment and retention continues to be an acute problem in the UK and there are not enough teachers in India. In just the state of Chennai, for example, around 60,000 teacher posts lie vacant.
A day in the life
A teacher’s daily routine will vary on context, age level, infrastructure, and support level, but one thing for sure is that with increasing mental health issues among the youth, a more and more troublesome, complex relationship with technology, an increase in the number of attacks on schools in conflict areas and, consequently, more teacher burnout and resignation worldwide, it can’t be described as an easy job. Teachers do much more than simply teach subjects and grade papers: they are at once psychologists, pedagogues, subject specialists, and they often have to deal with increasing pressure from supervisors, parents and education reform. A recent study in the UK found that “since the pandemic teachers are spending more time on addressing issues that would typically fall outside the remit of schools, including family conflict resolution and mental health support.”
Support
UN Secretary-General António Guterres says: “It’s time to support teachers. Let’s make sure they have the support, recognition, and resources they need to provide quality, relevant education, and skills for all.”
The 2024 United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession has set governments a number of recommendations to enhance and salvage the teaching profession. These include the creation of enabling environments that allow teachers to become drivers of education, adequate financing, and the effective integration of technology.
The starting point for this is to ensure that teachers are paid well enough for the profession to be dignified and to ensure the social security any person entering the teaching workplace needs to flourish. UNESCO reports show that:
“Globally, only one in two countries pay primary school teachers as much or more than other professions requiring a similar qualification level. The phenomenon is amplified in Europe and North America, where there are only three countries out of ten. At the upper secondary level, many high-income countries pay teachers 75% or less than the salary paid in other comparable professions.”
As long as the teaching profession is downgraded and remunerated in this disrespectful manner, the associated educational deficits will only widen.
Labor agreements protecting staff are essential, an example being the Collective Labor Agreement (known as the CCT – convention collective du travail) at the International School of Geneva, a school set up in 1924 as the League School for functionaries working for the League of Nations, and very much influenced by the ideals of the International Labour Organization at the time. With increasing job insecurity, the uberization of work, and teachers finding themselves overworked and underpaid, doing what we can to enhance the social security of teachers is foundational.
The 2024 UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession also recommends agency and “space for teacher voice in decision-making and opportunities for development and innovation.” Indeed, creating collaborative decision-making entities such as design teams, whereby teachers can be part of the thinking that goes into policy decisions, promotes an atmosphere of consultation and trust and empowers teachers who, after all, are on the ground and have valuable perspectives to share.
A healthy school environment is one where teachers not only feel respected but are given space to express their expertise and knowledge of pedagogy. When there is too much interference, top-down decision-making (which is not always based on rigorous research and can be fueled by oversimplified financial prerogatives or political agendas) the supportive climate needed for the science and art of teaching to be fully released and, therefore, for learning to soar, has the wind taken out of its sails.
Together, governments, boards, and school leaders should stand by the Transforming Education Summit’s exhortation to support teachers better as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, ensuring that sufficient investment is made in this fine profession to take us closer to the Sustainable Development Goals and a world where education is valorized and protected. If the teaching profession is lifted in status and care, the quality of education will increase, which will bring about more happiness, productivity, development, and human flourishing.