Message from the Heads of UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF, UNDP and Education International on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, 50th anniversary of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 5 October 2016
Valuing Teachers, improving their Status
Every year on World Teachers Day we celebrate the limitless contributions made by teachers around the world. Day after day, year in and year out, these dedicated women and men guide and accompany students through the world of learning, helping them discover and fulfill their potential. In doing so, teachers not only help shape the individual futures of millions of children; they also help shape a better world for all.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development makes this critical connection between education and development. By adopting Sustainable Development Goal 4, world leaders pledged to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This goal cannot be achieved unless we increase the supply of qualified teachers and empower them to be agents of educational change in the lives of the students they teach.
The situation is urgent. To achieve universal primary education by 2030, we need 24.4 million more teachers. The number is even greater for secondary education with 44.4 million secondary school teachers needed.
How can we recruit these new teachers and attract them to the vital profession of teaching when around the world, so many teachers are undertrained, underpaid and undervalued?
Many teachers still work with inadequate contracts and pay. They often live in difficult conditions, and lack appropriate initial training, continuous professional development, and consistent support. They are sometimes victims of discrimination and even violent attacks.
Teaching could be an attractive, first-choice profession – if teachers were valued commensurate with the immense value they provide to our children, and if their professional status as educators reflected the enormous impact their profession has on our shared future.
That means providing them with continuing training and development to support them in their critical role of educating all children, in all contexts – including the poorest, most remote communities, and in communities in crisis. It means compensating them properly and giving them the tools they need to do their indispensable jobs. It means putting in place policies that safeguard and reinforce the status of teachers – beginning by giving teachers a place at the table and an active role in decision-making that affects their work. And it means improving the efficiency and effectiveness of education systems at every level.
Fifty years ago today, these principles were laid down in the landmark 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which resulted in the first international standard-setting instrument on teachers. Since that day, we have made tremendous progress in elevating the status of teachers – but far more work remains to be done.
We dedicate World Teachers’ Day 2016 to celebrating this milestone by reaffirming our commitment to the standards and aspirations it represents – and by redoubling our efforts to achieve them. The teachers of the world – and the children of the world – deserve nothing less.
Invitation to submit narratives of teachers for World Teacher's Day Forum, 5-6 Oct, Bangkok
UNESCO Bangkok is organizing the World Teachers' Day (WTD) Forum, 5-6 October 2016 in Bangkok. The WTD theme this year is “Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status”. We would like to feature stories about teachers as part of this event.
As such, we hope to collect narratives (text and images) of teachers’ valuable impact in students’ lives.
The narratives could be directly submitted to us by members of the school community and the local community / families. We would appreciate the dissemination of the invitation to include the following details:
Specifications of submission
1) Narrative write-up: 100 – 200 words (Word Document)
2) 1 to 2 digital images. The image must be suitable for 4-color print. Image size details (JPEG format) are as follows:
a. 1240 pixels X 1748 pixels; or
b. A6 dimension at 300 dpi resolution (file size at 6 Mb).
c. Minimum file size 6 Mb - Maximum 8mb
d. Please note, if the image is taken with a phone camera, please extract the full-size image to a computer (transferring image via phone apps will drastically reduce the image quality, making it unsuitable for printing)
3) Submission email Subject: WTD Bangkok 5-6 Oct Narratives Submission
4) Labelling of file names:
a. For Word Document, please name the file “WTD_2016_teacher-name” (E.g. “WTD_2016_Mr-Hamid”)
b. For image file, please name the file “WTD_2016_teacher-name_01” (The second image file name will be “WTD_2016_teacher-name_02”)
5) Submission date: By 5 September 2016
For clarifications, please email to Ms Mun Yee Lee at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. '; document.write(''); document.write(addy_text18128); document.write('<\/a>'); //-->\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For submission of narratives, please email to Ms Mikyung Seo at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
5th Fly Your Ideas (FYI)
We are very pleased to inform you that Airbus, together with UNESCO, is running the 5th Fly Your Ideas (FYI) Competition, beginning on 31 May 2016. This exciting competition challenges students across the globe to develop new ideas for the eco-efficient aviation industry of the future by stimulating youth to create solutions for the future of aviation.
In the last four editions, more than 15,000 students from 600 universities in more than 100 countries worldwide took part in the competition. We would really appreciate your support in sharing this opportunity within your country and throughout your network. For more information, you are kindly invited to contact Ms Rovani Sigamoney, Engineering Assistant Programme Specialist in the Section for Capacity-Building in Science and Engineering of the Natural Sciences Sector (tel: +33 1 4568 3932; fax: +33 1 4568 5821; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
Please find attached the letter and related information.
2016 INTERNATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
- Organized by The Goi Peace Foundation
- Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; Japanese National Commission for UNESCO; Japan Private High School Federation; Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education; Japan Broadcasting Corporation; Nikkei Inc.
- Supported by Felissimo Corporation
This program is an activity of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development.
THEME:
"EDUCATION TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL"
We live in a world with many complex problems, both local and global. What kind of education and learning would help us address these challenges and create a sustainable world and a better life for all? Describe your concrete ideas for an ideal education.
GUIDELINES:
- Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2016) in one of the following age categories:
- Children (ages up to 14)
- Youth (ages 15 - 25)
- Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German; or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, excluding essay title. Essays may be typed or printed.
- Essays must have a cover page indicating (1) category (Children or Youth) (2) essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 15, 2016 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count. Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group.
Please enclose a list of participants' names and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director. - Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.
- Please note that the organizer is unable to confirm receipt of essays or answer individual inquiries concerning contest results.
- Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page at http://www.goipeace-essaycontest.org/ and follow the required steps. - Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
- Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
- Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizers.
DEADLINE:
Entries must be received by JUNE 15, 2016 (23:59 your local time).
AWARDS:
The following awards will be given in the Children's category and Youth category respectively:
- 1st Prize: Certificate and prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$840 as of January 2016) ... 1 entrant
- 2nd Prize: Certificate and prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$420 as of January 2016) ... 2 entrants
- 3rd Prize: Certificate and gift ... 5 entrants
- Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift ... 25 entrants
1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony in Tokyo, Japan scheduled for November 2016. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.)
Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.
All prize winners will be announced by the end of October 2016 on the Goi Peace Foundation web site (www.goipeace.or.jp). Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in December 2016.
PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO:
International Essay Contest c/o The Goi Peace Foundation
1-4-5 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093 Japan
OR Send online through www.goipeace.or.jp
For inquires, please contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.