Since 1994, World Teachers’ Day (WTD) has been observed on October 5 to commemorate the signing of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. It outlines the rights and duties of teachers, as well as standards for their initial preparation, ongoing professional development, recruitment, employment, and the conditions in which they teach and learn. The transmission of education occurs through teachers: The fundamental human right of universal primary and secondary education cannot be achieved without teachers. In 2022, the theme is: “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”. Teachers work hard to inspire, guide, educate and mentor us every day.
However, there is a global teacher shortage, according to projections. By 2030, almost 69 million new teachers will be needed to expand access to the 264 million children and youth who are not currently enrolled in school and to replace those who are expected to leave the workforce. The need is greatest in sub-Saharan Africa: In 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, 21 percent of children of primary school age, 36 percent of adolescents of lower secondary school age, and 57 percent of youth of upper secondary school age did not attend school. Furthermore, the most pressing need to fill the teacher shortage is in sub-Saharan Africa: There is an estimated need for 17 million teachers, with a primary teacher shortage affecting 70% of countries and a secondary teacher shortage affecting 90%. In many low-income nations, efforts to achieve quality, equitable, and inclusive education are hindered by teacher shortages. One policy tool for addressing the teacher shortage in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, is the hiring of teachers under non-permanent contractual arrangements. As an emergency measure, so-called “contract teachers” do not have to meet the same qualifications and training requirements as permanent teachers. However, a recent study of 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa shows that contract teaching has increased rather than decreased the education equity gap. These contract teachers, who typically have less experience and are younger, are paid less and have limited access to pre-service or in-service training. However, we are aware that factors such as years of experience, the quality of teacher preparation, and access to opportunities for professional development have been shown to influence teacher quality and student learning. Additionally, contract teachers frequently find themselves assigned to remote or rural areas that are difficult to staff, which has a negative impact on their absenteeism rates and retention. This raises concerns regarding the unequal distribution of financial resources to the most marginalized children. In some countries, addressing teacher shortages, while at the same time providing universal access to a growing number of children and youth, has meant increasing class sizes. In practice, this means that one teacher is responsible for instructing a group of 41 students in a low-income country, as opposed to a teacher in a high-income country who is responsible for a group of 14 students. In 2015, the pupil-to-teacher ratio in low-income countries was 41 for primary education and 23 for secondary education. In high-income countries, the ratio was 14 and 13 respectively. The ratio of students to teachers is highest in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (39 for primary and 21 for secondary in sub-Saharan Africa;33 for primary and 30 for secondary in Southern Asia, respectively), indicating the urgent need to fill teacher shortages in these regions. It has been demonstrated that large class sizes have a negative impact on students’ learning, particularly when staffed by teachers who are neither trained to manage large groups of students nor equipped to differentiate instruction for a variety of student populations.
St. Xavier’s Bangalore salutes all the nation builders across the world for giving us eminent personalities and skilled individuals. The covid pandemic have shown us the importance of teachers more evidently. The technology driven approach in teaching is essential quality in this century’s preceptors. The internet cannot replace teachers, but technologically backwards teachers will be replaced by technology savvy teachers.