“Build the Future: Invest in Teachers Now!” That was the resounding message from teachers around the world as they lobbied and marched and celebrated their international day, despite the global economic crisis threatening education and other key public services.
On 5 October, at a conference organised by UNESCO, representatives from ILO, UNDP, UNICEF and Education International drew attention to the high expectations and demands placed on teachers today:
“The 21st century calls for new approaches to learning, innovative thinking, the acquisition of specific knowledge about the environment, health and citizenship and the promotion of ethical values and attitudes. The ability of education systems to respond effectively to the needs of today’s learners depends largely on the action that is taken now to recruit, train and support teachers and to ensure decent work for them.”
For Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General, “many countries are making tremendous efforts to meet educational goals, but they will not make it without recruiting and training many more teachers. We cannot let the financial and economic crisis cut into education budgets. Lower spending on education will have dramatic short and long-term consequences on the quality of education.”
In countries where democratic rights are respected, educators celebrated their profession and their activism in a great variety of colourful and creative ways. However, in other countries, teachers were prohibited for different reasons, both natural and man-made, from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association. In Indonesia, for example, teachers struggled to resume classes amongst the rubbles in Padang, where more than 600 people were killed and many buildings, including schools, were destroyed by two massive earthquakes last week.
In Cambodia, governments forbade EI members from celebrating World Teachers’ Day. In a letter sent on 3 October, the Phnom Penh municipal authorities informed EI’s affiliate CITA that its plans to mark the day in front of the former National Assembly and the Ministry of Education would not be allowed. Leng Bunhong, Chief of Administration for CITA, said that “Cambodia has now lost its freedom, rights of expression, and of association to join together in an association or trade union.” By contrast, in Spain, prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero published an open letter to teachers in the context of Spain’s recent education reforms and its new project towards a national social agreement for education. “I will continue to dedicate my heart and all my efforts to showing that the greatness of any country should be measured by the respect it accords to its teachers,” he wrote.
In Belgium, teachers demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Education for the French-speaking community for the withdrawal of the plan to impose maximum working hours and cut education spending. German unions GEW and VBE issued a joint statement which states that “the decisions taken at the 2008 Education Summit must be fully and politically enforced”, and they called for both “the federal state as well as the Länder... to take the joint responsibility of creating the conditions to achieve an educational Republic of Germany”.
In Albania, teacher unions FSASH and SPASH jointly organised events at the district level so as to involve local teachers and union members as much as possible. At one of the events taking place in the capital city of Tirana, Minister of Education and Science Genc Pollo announced the government's plan to make education one of its top priorities next year and to increase investment especially at pre-school and primary levels.
In Canada, teachers and students committed to peace education had the opportunity to meet with the Dalai Lama in Ottawa, where he gave a presentation on peace education.
In the United States, the American Federation of Teachers urged Congress and the Obama administration to make sound investments in education, including teacher recruitment and retention both domestically and abroad, to improve children’s futures and to restore economic strength.
“As leaders from Argentina to Zimbabwe grapple with the world economic crisis, it is more important than ever that they reject cuts to education, which offer only short-term relief yet have lasting effects from which children may never fully recover,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
The National Education Association in the USA expressed concern about the punitive testing regimes in American schools, and found parallels in the experience of South African teachers. Filmmaker Molly Blank explored the role of testing in South African high schools and, in celebration of World Teachers’ Day, her film “Testing Hope” will be available online exclusively at nea.org/worldteachersday from 5-9 Otober.
In the United Kingdom, members of the National Union of Teachers of England and Wales also boycotted the testing in their schools.
In Africa, Côte d’Ivoire teacher union SYNESCI organised panel discussions for teachers on topics concerning the teachers there, such as housing for teachers, teacher training, recruitment, and pension.
As information comes in from affiliates on all continents, Education International will continue to report on events taking place around the world to commemorate World Teachers’ Day 2009.
On 5 October itself, the official World Teachers' Day site (www.5oct.org) received more than 200 "tweets" about the day. Tweets included greetings from individuals to their former and current teachers as well as links to blog entries by teachers themselves about their passion for the profession.
Thousands of electronic greeting cards were sent and the posters were available for download in 7 languages.
The photo-uploading feature of the site will remain open for the whole of October so that both EI member organisations and members of the public can upload photos of their World Teachers' Day activities. If you have not done so yet, please surf to www.5oct.org to do so today!