PURPOSE: The UNESCO proclaimed 5 October to be World Teachers’ Day in 1994, celebrating the great step made for teachers on 5 October 1966, when a special intergovernmental conference convened by UNESCO in Paris adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, in cooperation with the ILO. This recommendation sets forth the rights and responsibilities of teachers as well as international standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, teaching and learning conditions. Since its adoption, the Recommendation has been considered an important set of guidelines to promote teachers’ status in the interest of quality education. The date of 5 October also celebrates the adoption by the UNESCO General Conference in 1997 of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel.
FORUM: “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage.” World Teachers’ Day 2023. Being a teacher provides the unique opportunity to make a transformative and lasting impact on the lives of others, contributing to shaping sustainable futures and offering personal fulfilment. However, the world faces an unprecedented global teacher shortage exacerbated by a decline in their working conditions and status. With the theme "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage", the 2023 celebrations will aim to put the importance of stopping the decline in the number of teachers and then starting to increase that number at the top of the global agenda. Through various activities, they will advocate for a dignified and valued teaching profession, analyse their challenges, and showcase inspiring practices to attract, retain and motivate teachers and educators. It will also examine the ways in which education systems, societies, communities, and families recognise, appreciate, and actively support teachers. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #InvestInTeachers, #WorldTeachersDay, #5October.
EVENTS: The organizers and participants are invited to subscribe and participate to the World Teachers Day 2023 on October 5th and October 6th, at UNESCO Headquaters from 11:00 to 17:00 (Paris time, GMT+2). Celebrations will focus on the meaningfulness of being a teacher and the urgency of attracting and retaining qualified teachers into the profession. It will insist on the dual imperative of attracting youth to teaching programmes and the imperatives to make the profession attractive for those in service in order to curb teacher attrition. From a lifelong learning perspective, the commemorations will cover the teaching profession at different level of education, learning spaces and modalities. The Agenda programme of the Online events are "Teacher education in emergencies to support attraction and well-being" and "Global pathways to an attractive teaching profession"; The 2023 World Teachers' Day is framed within the wider context of a new social contract and the transformation of education. It will be informed by the work of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession and the follow-up to the Transforming Education Summit. It will highlight recommendations coming out of both initiatives and will greatly benefit from the comprehensive analysis and valuable data gathered in preparation of the Global Report on Teachers to be published by UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF) at the end of 2023. UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF and Education International, the four co-convening organizations of World Teachers’ Day, will encourage decision-makers, (notably Ministers of Education), development cooperation and aid agencies, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, to take action to make the teaching profession more attractive through local, national and regional policies and programmes. Advocacy events (e.g., meetings, exhibitions, campaigns, awards) will be organized to highlight the pathways that can be followed to ensure the teachers we need for the education that we want. Below is the list of international initiatives and resources envisaged for the 2023 edition of World Teachers’ Day on the theme of imperatives to make the profession more attractive: Four events open to the public at UNESCO HQ and online
Recognition and appreciation: the role of teacher prizes in enhancing the status of the profession - 5 October -11 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Paris time), Room IX or II (TBC), UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France - This panel aims to discuss the role of teacher prizes as symbols of recognition of the work undertaken by educators, as an essential form of contribution to the improvement of their status within the community and, ultimately, as a lever to raising the appeal of the profession. Register here to participate online.
2023 World Teachers’ Day Opening Ceremony - 5 October - 2.30 - 4:30 p.m. (Paris time), Room IX or II (TBC), UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France -After opening remarks of the co-conveners of World Teachers’ Day, the event will present critical data on the appeal of the teaching profession, highlighting teacher voices on what they find attractive and challenging in the profession. Register here to attend online.
Teacher education in emergencies to support attraction and well-being - 6 October - 12 - 2 p.m. (Paris time), online event - The roundtable will be followed by a discussion on the support teachers need to realize their commitment and their vocation in the most difficult contexts. Register here to participate online.
Global pathways to an attractive teaching profession - 6 October - 3 - 5 p.m. (Paris time), online event.The workshop will explore national and regional policy responses and programmes to improve the appeal of the teaching profession in response to the global shortage on teachers Register to participate!
WORLDWIDE OBSERVANCES: Get the list of World Teachers’ Day 2023 celebrations at UNESCO Regional Offices, Institutes and Member States.
Photo exhibition: On World Teachers’ Day, UNESCO presents an exhibition that celebrates educators from all corners of our planet, recognizing their dedication, passion, and commitment to shaping the future. Delving into a range of topics — from digital transformation and inclusion to lifelong learning and sustainable development — the exhibition offers insights into how UNESCO and its partners champion educators globally. Explore the exhibition!
PUBLICATION: Teaching requirement policies globally and their implications for monitoring SDG 4.
PODCASTS: Inequitable deployment and distribution of teachers is also a major challenge that impacts shortages in rural and hard-to-reach locations. Without enough teachers, classrooms are overcrowded, teachers are overworked and demotivated, and the quality of teaching is inadequate to enable all learners, especially the most vulnerable, to achieve desired learning outcomes. Listen to the audio podcasts!
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS: Support teachers need to realize their commitment and their vocation in the most difficult contexts. Get the communication materials in English, Français, Español, العربية, Русский язык. Download the poster of the World Teachers’ Day 2023 "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage."
WHY WE CELEBRATE THE DAY?
HOW TO GET INVOLVED!
PARTNERSHIPS
Because the supply of teachers globally is inadequate and unequal. The UNESCO proclaimed 5 October to be World Teachers’ Day in 1994, celebrating the great step made for teachers on 5 October 1966, when a special intergovernmental conference convened by UNESCO in Paris adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, in cooperation with the ILO. This recommendation sets forth the rights and responsibilities of teachers as well as international standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, teaching and learning conditions. Since its adoption, the Recommendation has been considered an important set of guidelines to promote teachers’ status in the interest of quality education.
If you cannot participate in the event in Paris, there are plenty of events organised yearly around the world. Everyone can help by celebrating the profession, by generating awareness about teacher issues, by ensuring that teacher respect is part of the natural order of things. Take the opportunity of the day to discuss, compare, learn, argue, share and improve.
- Advocate for a prominent role of teachers in the transformation and the future of education based on international normative instruments (the commemoration of the 1966 and 1997 Recommendations concerning the status of teachers).
- Analyse the main challenges faced by teachers and education systems to make teaching an attractive profession and one that delivers equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
- Present promising practices to ensure that teachers and educators are adequately motivated to remain in the profession and grow professionally.
The World Teacher’s Day is organized by the UNESCO; the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) REPORT, the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), the lnternational Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030, Education International (EI), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Hamdan Foundation, the United Nations University (UNU), the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize…
With the participation of Civil Society Organizatons, Non-Governmental Organization, Teacher’s form schools and universitities.
Partners all over the world are invited to celebrate the WTD, contact UNESCO (wtd(at)unesco.org) to find out who may be organizing an event near you or organize your own local event.