World Teachers' Day

Building the Global Future

World Teachers' Day is held annually on October 5. It is a day to celebrate teachers, the contributions they make in our classrooms and communities and the role they play in building the global future.

Teachers lift up the next generation of global citizens by passing on knowledge, values and ethics — vital ingredients of a healthy functioning society. World Teachers' Day presents an opportunity to elevate teachers in ways that build respect for the people and profession. World Teachers' Day highlights the need to support, provide for, and empower teachers as the world community works toward sustainable societies and quality education for all.

The date of World Teachers' commemorates the adoption of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. Signed on October 5, 1966 the recommendation established the international standards for teachers’ rights and responsibilities.

A Quality Education is the Foundation to Build a Life Upon

Teachers are a powerful influence in keeping children in school, and they help shape the quality of a child’s education. Teachers impart knowledge and teach students of all ages how to tackle problems, work together, process information, think critically and make informed decisions.

In today’s rapidly changing, interconnected and interdependent world, teachers shape the lives that shape the world.

Teachers lay the foundation that students will build upon to derive pleasure in life, provide for their families and imagine new possibilities. They teach their students to question and challenge and to envision new ways of doing business. Quality teachers contribute to the invention of new products and solutions for old and persistent problems: disease, hunger, poverty, and inequality.

Teachers and Sustainable Development

Quality teachers help drive sustainable development and their recruitment, training, retention, working conditions and status are key to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the most comprehensive and ambitious anti-poverty plan the world community has ever adopted.

The seven outcome targets of SDG 4 are:

• Free, equitable and universal primary and secondary education
• Access to quality early childhood development and pre-primary education for all boys and girls
• Equal access for all women and men to technical/vocational and higher education, including university
• Substantial increase in the number of youth and adults with relevant skills for decent work
• Equal access to education and vocational training for the vulnerable
• Universal youth literacy and numeracy
• Education for sustainable development and global citizenship

The three methods for achieving the outcomes are:

• Creating effective learning environments
• Expanding the number of scholarships awarded to students throughout the world, but especially in developing countries
• Increasing the number of qualified teachers

"All over the world, a quality education offers hope and the promise of a better standard of living. However, there can be no quality education without competent and motivated teachers."
— UNESCO

Teachers Release Children From Poverty

Poverty and education are intertwined. But receiving a quality education is out of the question for many children living in poverty.

A quality education is a recognized and established human right. It offers the knowledge, skills, and training to create a better future. It changes everything for a child and his or her family. A quality education offers hope of a life beyond poverty.

Every child deserves the opportunity to receive an education. In honor of World Teachers' Day and the millions of teachers shaping the lives of the next generation, support the education and literacy of children in poverty by donating to our Educational Needs fund or sponsoring a child's education.