Sub-Saharan Africa will need an additional 15 million primary and secondary teachers by 2030 for the region’s education system to recover from the COVID pandemic crisis.
UN agencies’ chiefs on Monday, ahead of World Teachers’ Day, said teachers were the driving force behind ‘global education recovery’ from COVID-19.
World Teachers’ Day is held annually on October 5 to celebrate all teachers around the globe.
According to them, for the education system to recover from the COVID pandemic, it requires more investment in the well-being, training, professional development and working conditions of the world’s 71 million educators.
“Today we celebrate the exceptional dedication and courage of all teachers.
“We celebrate their capacity to adapt and to innovate under very challenging and uncertain conditions,” said UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief Henrietta Fore, top International Labour Organisation (ILO) official, Guy Ryder, and Education International’s leader, David Edwards, in a joint statement.
“They are the principal actors of the global education recovery efforts and are key in accelerating progress towards inclusive and equitable quality education for every learner, in every circumstance,” the statement continued.
“Now is the time to recognise the exceptional role teachers play and to empower them with the training, professional development, support and working conditions they need to deploy their talent,” the top officials argued.
