WORLD TEACHER’S DAY
Joint message from
Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO,
Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization,
Ms. Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF,
and Mr. David Edwards, General Secretary of Education International,
on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day
Theme: Teachers at the heart of education recovery
Date: 5 October 2021
Nearly two years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many education systems are still facing significant disruptions. Students and teachers in close to 60 countries remain affected by full or partial school closures. But whether students are learning in person or remotely, teachers are at the heart of the process.
The pandemic has shone a light on the irreplaceable value of the teaching profession in society but also on the difficult working conditions facing many teachers. Teachers have been on the frontlines to ensure learning continuity when schools were closed and to provide socio-emotional support to their students, especially the most vulnerable ones.
They have had to rapidly adapt to remote learning and manage new digital tools, often without training. Today, they must assess and address learning losses among their students, cope with issues of health and safety in the classroom, and leverage remote, hybrid and in-person methods to minimize disruption.
Today we celebrate the exceptional dedication and courage of all teachers, as well as their capacity to adapt and innovate under very challenging and uncertain conditions. They are at the heart of global education recovery efforts and are key in accelerating progress towards inclusive, equitable and quality education for every learner, in every circumstance.
Now is the time to recognize the exceptional role teachers play and to empower them with the training, professional development, support and working conditions they need to deploy their talent. This is a time of challenge but also an opportunity for rapid transformation to address the unfulfilled needs which have been multiplied by the pandemic. Sub-Saharan Africa alone requires 15 million more teachers to reach the education goals by 2030. Surmounting these challenges requires bold commitment, investment and innovation on a scale like never before.
A successful education recovery starts with ensuring teachers’ well-being, adequate remuneration and safety, including their prioritization for vaccination together with other key workers.
A successful education recovery calls for investment in more teachers and in training and professional development opportunities, so that educators may enrich their practice and gain the skills to integrate and use educational technologies effectively to support learning and adapt to a diversity of learners’ needs.
Education recovery will be successful if it is conducted hand in hand with teachers – giving them voice and space to participate in decision-making and respecting their pedagogical knowledge and expertise as we reimagine the way out of the crisis and build more resilient education systems.
On World Teachers’ Day, we are not only celebrating every teacher. We are calling on countries to invest in them and prioritize them in global education recovery efforts so that every learner has access to a qualified and supported teacher.
Let’s stand with our teachers!
Why You Need to Pass Your Exams
I have to come see everything in life, through the eyes of an entrepreneur whose sole interest is to exchange money for value and make profit out of it. Yes, life is about doing business and making profit, but how much profit one wants or needs to make, solely depends on one. I’ve got you thinking, right? So, you are wondering, ‘what does my passing exam have to do with making profit’? I’ll tell you.
You see, the primary purpose of being enrolled in school, is to enable you acquire knowledge, skills, and competence for a life-long career in any walk of life. At graduation, while you are a product of your school, it is expected that you would also have made good profit from the experiences you may have gathered especially from your teachers who were responsible for guiding you through learning activities and programmes. This is why a graduate can easily be described as “one who is found worthy in character and in learning”.
However, part of what enables you attain this qualification, is the fact that you have to pass your examinations without compromising to any form of exam malpractice. Examinations are pathways to your profiting that comes in form of good grades, character building, and positive mental health. In other words, the profits of your academic experience, is in passing your examinations. It actually gives you feelings of happiness, confidence, sense of fulfillment, and self-worth and achievement. All these culminate in what Abraham Maslow calls self-actualization or self-satisfaction.
You see, at one point or the other in life, everyone looks out for the meaning of life, and as a student, passing exams helps you to find meaning in life. Yes, passing your examination serves as a catalyst or driving force to do better at every turn in life; a motivation to move forward in life. The more exams you pass, the more meaning you make out of life as a student. You will gain more sense of achievement and actually enjoy the whole business of acquiring education. The business of schooling won’t be burdensome but exciting, because you are naturally motivated by previous successes at exams to study better in order to prepare for your forthcoming examinations. You will not only enjoy your education, but also put in more efforts to excel in it, and this ultimately becomes a huge source of satisfaction.
By mastering the art of preparing for, and passing examinations, you are also able to know your strengths and weaknesses which helps you to make informed decisions about your study choices and other aspects of your student life. This is because you become more focused, and able to know precisely what you want out of life. I have never known a more confident people than students who know what they want. They usually exhibit an incredible amount of positive thinking or optimism which leads to a good sense of self-worth. Passing your examination therefore makes you understand and discover your uniqueness, reactions and emotions. Therefore, you don’t only have a sense of self-worth, from passing exams, but it also gives you a high level of self-awareness that leads to self-satisfaction.
As you prepare to write another examination, I encourage you to to come to terms with yourself and tell yourself that it’s time to make another huge profit. Rather than entertain fear of failure, focus on the profit(s) you stand to make in your scholarly business. Passing exam is a goal that must be achieved in order to generate, and maintain a total wellbeing in life, especially as a student.
OHIA, Irene
Recent Comments