Teachers need training to lead education Transformation.

A new fact sheet by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) & Teacher Task Force, estimates that only 14% of low-income countries have policies mandating continuing professional development for primary school teachers. The trend is declining, with the share of trained primary teachers in sub-Saharan Africa dropping from 85% to 69%, and trained secondary teachers from 79% to 59%, between 2000 and 2024. This lack of support for teachers undermines educational quality and equity, contributing to more teachers leaving the profession. The global shortage highlights the urgency: 44 million additional teachers are needed by 2030 to achieve universal primary and secondary education.


"On this World Teachers’ Day, UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF and Education International call on governments, partners and the international community to make a collective commitment to ensuring that collaboration is recognized as a norm within the teaching profession – because it is only through effective cooperation at all levels that we can build truly inclusive, equitable and resilient education systems worldwide."

Joint message by the heads of UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF and Education International.

The new fact sheet shows that while teachers are leaders in promoting inclusion and innovation in schools and societies, they often carry out their work without collaborative structures to support and strengthen their pedagogy, agency, professionalism, and well-being. It underscores that collaboration is vital at every stage of a teacher’s career: through co-teaching, joint reflection, and integrated partnerships with schools, teachers new to the profession can build a foundation supported by cooperation rather than isolation. As they progress in their careers, teachers must build collective inquiry and shared problem-solving skills through communities of practice, study circles, or other forms of collegial learning.

Read the fact sheet on Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession: World Teachers’ Day 2025
Provided by the UNESCO International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030