5th October is World Teachers’ Day Teachers at the heart of education recovery

    05-Oct-2021
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Ranjan K Baruah
The recent pandemic has impacted negatively amongst students as schools and other educational institutions are closed due to lock down. Students are not attending classes and teachers are also facing challenges to reach out to students in rural areas or areas where there is a digital divide. The educational disruptions and school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have confirmed the crucial role of teachers in maintaining learning continuity, but also in sustaining the very dynamics of households, families and communities.
During the current crisis, we have witnessed how teachers have been at the heart of educational responses: they have provided online teaching and learning; they have prepared take home packages for students living in rural and remote areas that lack the connectivity and technologies needed to pursue online learning; they have adapted their practices and diversified the formats, means and contents of education to cater for the needs of learners, including their socio emotional well-being; and they have preserved and reinforced social interaction among learners, fellow teachers and school communities, often checking in on students via social media and messaging systems, and exchanging practices and resources with other practitioners, enhancing a sense of community within the profession.
To celebrate World Teachers’ Day (WTD), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation( UNESCO), together with its co-convening organizations, International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and Education International (EI), and its partners, the World Bank, the Hamdan Foundation, the International Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF), members of the Global Education Coalition and in-country Local Education Groups (LEGs) will organize global, regional and national events and an advocacy campaign through social media for wider public engagement. WTD is observed on 5th October around the world. In India, we already observe teachers day on 5th September.
WTD is held annually on 5 October to celebrate all teachers around the globe.  It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. The Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel was adopted in 1997 to complement the 1966 Recommendation by covering teaching personnel in higher education. WTD has been celebrated since 1994 and is co-convened in partnership with the ILO, UNICEF and EI.
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