World Teachers' Day

The recent UNESCO GEM Report on leadership in education found that only about half of countries emphasize teacher collaboration in their leadership standards . And barely one third of leadership programmes reviewed focused on developing school leaders’ preparedness to share responsibilities through openness, collaboration and partnerships. Only a few countries highlight the value of teacher collaboration in teacher evaluations as well, acting as an incentive for teachers to embrace leadership roles. The Report called for policies on shared school leadership to be developed and implemented.

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 cooperat...

  The theme chosen to observe the  World Teachers’ Day 2025  is '' Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession" . On October 5th,we will celebrate teaching as a collaborative profession, one that draws its strength from strong human connections, shared responsibilities and sustainable professional identities; The event will reaffirm the irreplaceable role of teachers and the need to reposition trust, solidarity and professional agency at the heart of education. World Teachers’ Day serves as a global moment to celebrate the teaching profession and to urge the international community to take concrete action to recast teaching as a collaborative profession.

Our teachers deserve to be recognised for their hard work and dedication to delivering the best experience for our students. So, if you’re a student, drop a message into the form below and shout out your favourite teacher or share an experience that has impacted your learning.

Teachers are at the heart of the learning process, playing a critical role in imparting knowledge and shaping the future. Yet, despite this, education systems worldwide continue to grapple with shortages and face challenges in attracting and retaining qualified educators. While the teacher shortage has narrowed in recent years, an estimated 44 million teachers are still needed to reach the goal of universal primary and secondary education by 2030. Regional disparities remain strong, with sub-Saharan Africa requiring 15 million more teachers by 2030 – representing about one-third of the global demand. The teacher shortage is particularly severe at the secondary level, where 31 million teachers are needed, 58% of which are needed to replace those leaving the profession. Such shortages have far-reaching consequences, directly affecting students, learning outcomes, and the workforce. But addressing this at the secondary level, where teachers need subject-specific expertise, and higher q...