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World Teachers’ Day: Valuing Teacher Voices
2024/10/04
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on 5th October to value and respect the teaching profession—an essential step toward transforming education. The 10th Congress of Education International (EI) in Buenos Aires reaffirmed this mission and our collective resolve to elevate the profession. The 2024 celebrations will center around the theme “Valuing teacher voices: towards a new social contract for education.” This theme emphasizes the urgent need to engage with teachers, both to address the challenges we face and, most importantly, to benefit from the expert knowledge and insights they bring to education. Educators must be central to decision-making processes.
According to UNESCO, the global shortage of teachers has reached 44 million, and Japan is no exception. The shortage is driven by several factors, including low wages, long working hours, excessive workloads, and the diverse demands placed on teachers. Many of these issues can be traced back to insufficient investment in education. In response, EI launched the “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign, aiming to increase public investment in education and educators to ensure quality public education for all. In alignment with this initiative, Japan Teachers’ Union is actively addressing the issue of excessive working hours through its “Schools in Crisis: Work Style Reform” campaign. It is imperative to take immediate action to resolve the severe problem of overwork, which leaves teachers with little to no time for lesson preparation, engaging with students, or even basic necessities like eating or going to the toilet.
In parallel, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, with the task of setting out a clear plan of action on how the teaching profession can be supported and transformed to play its essential role in creating a better world. The Panel presented 59 recommendations aimed at ensuring that teachers are valued and respected. These comprehensive recommendations are the result of sustained union advocacy and represent a unique opportunity to bring about real change for millions of teachers and students globally.
Together with our colleagues around the world, the Japan Teachers’ Union will continue its efforts to elevate teacher voices, transform the education system, and improve working conditions for educators—ensuring quality education for all.