The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has stated that the supply of teachers is failing to meet the global demand for primary education. To make matters worse, many teachers around the world work without proper resources or training. The world faces a learning crisis, with 250 million children not acquiring the basic skills of reading and writing.
According to projections from the Unesco Institute for Statistics in 2010, the world needed to hire at least 6.8 million teachers between 2010 and 2015 to provide for every child’s right to primary education. The situation is most extreme in sub-Saharan Africa, where the demand for teachers is rising rapidly. More teachers are needed to reach the 61 million children of primary school age who are not in school, of these 53 per cent are girls.
Gender is another important aspect. Studies conducted by the Unesco Institute for Statistics showed that hiring more female teachers in countries where a majority of teachers are men will have a positive effect on the performance of female students.
In 1994, the Unesco took steps to deal with this crisis. They started by setting up World Teachers’ Day, which is marked annually on October 5. It is a day devoted to appreciating, assessing and improving educators around the world - to look at and address issues pertaining to teachers.
At an individual level, Unesco says that this day can be celebrated by generating awareness about issues that teachers face on a daily basis. They want countries and its residents to restore the respect this profession deserves by just talking about it, comparing their experiences and learning from each other’s mistakes when it comes to schooling.
