This year’s World Teachers’ Day marks the 60th anniversary of the 1966 International Labour OrganiSation/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to observe the day on October 5, Uchechukwu Nnaike reports that improved welfare still tops the demands of teachers in the country
World Teachers’ Day is observed annually on October 5, to celebrate the teaching profession while renewing a collective commitment to the rights, status, professional autonomy, working conditions, and wellbeing of teachers worldwide.
The day 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.
With the theme: ‘Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures’, UNESCO said that the 2026 edition will centre on reviewing the current challenges related to teacher status and the strategies to address them, calling on society and policy-makers to protect, promote and elevate that status.
In a joint message, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany; International Labour Organisation Director-General Gilbert Houngbo; UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell; and Education International General Secretary David Edwards stressed that “the value we place on teachers reflects the value we place on future generations”.
According to them, 60 years on, the Recommendation’s core purpose remains as relevant as ever.
“Standing with teachers begins by ensuring that they have the conditions necessary to carry out their work effectively. This includes high-quality initial teacher education, opportunities for continuous professional learning and safe, supportive working environments,” they stated. “It also means trusting teachers’ professional judgement and ensuring that their experience helps inform education policy through meaningful social dialogue.”
They said the priorities have become increasingly urgent, as the world is projected to need 50 million additional teachers by 2030, including 44 million to achieve universal primary and secondary education and 6 million for pre-primary education.
“Recruiting new teachers is as necessary as retaining experienced ones and ensuring that teaching offers motivating, rewarding and sustainable career pathways, including opportunities for female teachers to take up leadership positions. Advancing gender equality in and through teaching is essential to addressing persistent gender norms, barriers, and inequalities,” they explained.
They added that protecting and promoting the status of teachers demand concrete action to enhance the esteem accorded to teachers and the support provided for their work, noting that this is reflected in the resources invested in schools and teachers, the quality of their working conditions, and the confidence placed in teachers’ professional judgement and that “governments bear a central responsibility in this regard, working alongside employers, teacher organisations, teacher education institutions, communities and international partners”.
The message noted that today teachers educate learners in a world shaped by rapid technological change, including artificial intelligence, as well as climate change, conflict, displacement, persistent inequalities and increasingly diverse learning environments.
“In this context, teachers are expected not only to impart knowledge and skills, but also to foster critical thinking, inclusion, resilience, lifelong learning and responsible citizenship. As expectations continue to grow, the teaching profession must evolve alongside the transformation of education, with teachers empowered not only to adapt to change, but also to help shape the futures of education.”
“As we work with member states to revise the 1966 Recommendation and ensure that it reflects the realities of teaching in the twenty-first century, its fundamental purpose remains unchanged. It continues to provide a strong foundation for strengthening the teaching profession and expanding access to quality education for every learner,” the officials pointed out.
UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF and Education International therefore called on governments and partners to stand with teachers by advancing the status of the profession and ensuring that every teacher, everywhere, is empowered to help build more inclusive, peaceful and sustainable societies.
Sixty years after the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation, the welfare of Nigerian teachers remains in a critical state, marked by poor remuneration, minimum wage delays, teacher shortages, decaying school infrastructure, insecurity, and more.
While congratulating Nigerian teachers, Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi described them as critical to shaping the country’s human capital and future. In a post on his X account, he commended teachers for their resilience and sacrifices, particularly amid difficult socio-economic conditions, while calling for improved welfare and working conditions.
He also called for the restoration of the profession’s dignity, saying more investment in education is necessary to tackle some of the country’s major challenges, such as out-of-school children, unemployment, poverty, and underdevelopment.
Speaking at the commemoration of the day in Abuja, National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Titus Amba, appealed to the federal government to implement the special salary scale approved for teachers without further delay, saying the four-year wait has adversely affected their morale and welfare.
Amba, represented by Deputy National President Kizito Kalu, said the special salary structure for teachers in basic and secondary schools, approved in 2022 by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari alongside other welfare packages, has yet to be implemented four years after its approval.
He decried the poor working conditions in schools, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate furniture, insufficient instructional materials and dilapidated infrastructure. He called for increased investment in school infrastructure and the provision of a safe and conducive environment for teaching and learning.
He also attributed the shortage of teachers in schools across the country to some state governments’ failure to recruit teachers for several years, urging governments to recruit enough professionally qualified teachers, particularly for rural and underserved communities, and to provide incentives to retain them in the profession.
Amba also called for regular training and retraining to equip teachers with the skills needed to respond to changes in curriculum, technology, and societal expectations. He also appealed to the government to ensure that the increasing use of digital technology and artificial intelligence in education supports teachers, rather than displacing them.
He also called for greater participation of teachers and their representative organisations in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of education policies. The president also called for stronger security measures to protect teachers and pupils, stressing that safety should form a permanent part of education planning.
Some teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that appreciating educators through cash incentives, awards, public commendation, among others, will encourage them to carry out their duties and respond to new demands in the classrooms. According to them, Teachers’ Day reassures educators that their sacrifices are recognised, contrary to the saying that “teachers’ reward is in heaven”.