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. 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.
FORUM:: “Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession.” World Teachers’ Day 2025. Teachers play vital roles in education systems, driving learning, inclusion, and innovation in schools and societies. Yet many work without collaborative structures to support their pedagogy, agency, professionalism or well-being. In many systems, the profession remains marked by isolation, fragmented structures and limited opportunities to build networks with peers, mentors and school leaders, affecting both educational quality and teacher retention. This year celebrations will centre on the theme “Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession,” highlighting the transformative potential of collaboration for teachers, schools and education systems. Reframing teaching as inherently collaborative – supported by policies, practices, and environments that value mutual support, shared expertise, and joint responsibility – is essential to strengthen teaching, learning, and teachers’ professional fulfilment. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Teachers, #WorldTeachersDay, #5October, #valuingteachervoices, #teaching, #teachingasacollaborativeprofession, #teachthem.
EVENTS: On October 5th will be held theWorld Teachers’ Day 2025 and the UNESCO-Hamdan Award Ceremony. The global celebration will take place in the framework of the Pan-African Conference on Teacher Education (PACTED) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The programme will open with statements from high-level representatives of the co-convening partners – UNESCO, UNICEF, the International Labour Organization, and Education International – followed by a ministerial panel, moderated by the African Union, on the topic “From isolation to collective strength: Reenvisioning the teaching profession through the lens of collaboration.”Get more information on the Global event which was Organized on October 3rd during the Pan-African Conference on Teacher Education in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Read the concept note and Register to participate!
Other celebrations will take place around the world to support teachers.
PUBLICATION: Read the Teaching requirement policies globally and their implications for monitoring SDG 4 published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
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!
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.