World Teachers' Day
The
United Nations' (UN) World Teachers' Day celebrates the role teachers
play in providing quality education at all levels. This enables children
and adults of all ages to learn to take part in and contribute to their
local community and global society.
What Do People Do?
Various events are arranged in many countries around the world on or
around October 5. These include celebrations to honor teachers in
general or those who have made a special contribution to a particular
community. The day may also be marked by conferences emphasizing the
importance of teachers and learning, extra training sessions for
teachers, recruitment drives for the teaching profession among
university students or other suitably qualified professionals and events
to increase the profile of teachers and the role they play in the
media.
Trade unions or other professional organizations that represent
teachers play an important role in organizing World Teachers' Day events
in many countries. These include:
- The Australian Education Union.
- The Canadian Teachers' Federation.
- The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (Canada).
- The All India Secondary Teachers' Federation.
- The Japan Teachers' Union.
- The Teachers Council (New Zealand).
- The National Union of Teachers (United Kingdom).
- The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (United Kingdom).
- The National Education Association (United States).
Moreover, international organizations such as TESOL (Teachers of
English to Speakers of Other Languages) and Education International
organize international, national and local events. In some areas posters
are displayed and pupils and ex-pupils are encouraged to send e-cards
or letters of appreciation to teachers who made a special or memorable
contribution to their education.
Background
On October 5, 1966, the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the
Status of Teachers in Paris, France, was closed and the "Recommendation
concerning the Status of Teachers" was signed by representatives of
UNESCO and International Labour Organization. On October 12, 1997, the
29th session of UNESCO's General Conference was opened. During this
conference, on November 11, 1997, the "Recommendation concerning the
Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel" was adopted.
On October 5, 1994, the first World Teachers' Day was held. This
event has been organized on the same date each year since then. However,
local events may be on some other date close to October 5, so that they
do not fall during fall (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern
hemisphere) school vacations. In 2002, Canada Post issued a postage
stamp to commemorate World Teachers' Day.
