Teachers to be celebrated as the heartbeat of public education on World Teachers’ Day

World Teachers’ Day 2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) that recognizes education as a key fundamental right and establishes an entitlement to free compulsory education, ensuring inclusive and equitable access for all children.

This year’s theme, “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher,” has been chosen to remind the global community that the right to education cannot be achieved without the right to trained and qualified teachers. Even today, a continuing challenge worldwide is the shortage of teachers. There are an estimated 264 million children and youth still out of school globally. To reach the 2030 Education Goals of universal primary and secondary education, the world needs to recruit almost 69 million new teachers. This ‘teacher gap’ is more pronounced among vulnerable populations, such as girls, children with disabilities, refugee and migrant children, or poor children living in rural or remote areas.

“As teachers, we have a tremendous responsibility to help students understand and learn about the world around them,” says CTF President H. Mark Ramsankar. “Events like World Teachers’ Day allow us to reflect on the critical role that we as individual teachers and the profession as a whole play in the education system.”

Ontario’s public elementary teachers are proud to be the heartbeat of Ontario’s high-quality education system. Part of ETFO's mission is the education, stimulation, and transformation of provincial and local organizations to be responsive to the diverse needs of the membership and to be a positive influence for change at a societal level. ETFO recognizes that we live in a society characterized by individual and systemic discrimination against particular groups. Within this context, ETFO defines equity as fairness achieved through proactive measures that result in equality for all. 

In the WRDSB, teachers demonstrate the values and professionalism key to educating and supporting all students to achieve at a high level through teaching that embeds respect for and collaboration with others regardless of differences. World Teachers’ Day is one opportunity to recognize and celebrate the important work teachers do each and every day in WRDSB classrooms, schools, and communities.

It is most appropriate that we recognize and celebrate the work of teachers locally as we head into the Thanksgiving weekend. We all have much to be thankful for, to celebrate, and to continue fighting for on behalf of students, a better society and a better world.

Held annually on 5 October since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. It is co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and Education International.