“Qualified Teachers for Quality Education” is the theme for World Teachers’ Day, observed globally on October 5
World Teachers’ Day began in 1994 as a Unesco event to acknowledge the contribution of teachers, as well as to highlight their concerns.
“There is no question that teachers should be honoured with their own day of celebration. However, in order for such a celebration to be successful, it is vital that teachers and representatives of education personnel take an active part in order to ensure its success and visibility,” says Education International (EI) general-secretary Fred van Leeuwen. He says the World Teachers’ Day slogan, “Qualified Teachers for Quality Education”, encompasses the dual themes of teachers as indispensable to providing quality education, and teachers as fundamental in helping governments to meet their commitments agreed at recent world education conferences.
Education, he adds, is to a large extent a matter of a learning process. “When this process works well, real learning takes place. The clear conclusion is that quality education requires quality teachers. This highlights the significance of acknowledging teaching as a profession, rather than as something anyone can do.”
EI has produced an eye-catching informational poster to be distributed among member organisations in more than 160 countries.
Together we must work to ensure that the voices of teachers are heard throughout the world on October 5.
the Teacher joins EI and Unesco in wishing educators in South Africa and throughout the world a happy and successful World Teachers’ Day.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, October 2001.