By Ritah Kemigisa
United Nations agencies have urged Countries to invest in teachers and prioritize them in global education recovery efforts so that every learner has access to a qualified and supported teacher.
The call from Joint UN agencies comes as the world celebrates Teachers day today and nearly two years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic where many education systems are still facing significant disruptions.
According to a statement from the agencies, a successful education recovery starts with ensuring teachers’ well-being, adequate pay and safety, including their prioritization for vaccination together with other key workers.
“A successful education recovery calls for investment in more teachers and in training and professional development opportunities, so that educators may enrich their practice and gain the skills to integrate and use educational technologies effectively to support learning and adapt to a diversity of learners’ needs,” read the statement.
They are also calling for the celebration of Teachers for their exceptional dedication and courage and for ensuring learning continuity as well as their capacity to adapt and innovate under very challenging and uncertain conditions.
“Now is the time to recognize the exceptional role teacher’s play and to empower them with the training, professional development, support and working conditions they need to deploy their talent. This is a time of challenge but also an opportunity for rapid transformation to address the unfulfilled needs which have been multiplied by the pandemic. Sub-Saharan Africa alone requires 15 million more teachers to reach the education goals by 2030,” read the statement.
Celebrations to mark World Teacher’s day are running under the theme “Teachers at the heart of education recovery.
