This World Teachers’ Day, join the global mobilisation calling on governments everywhere to value the voice of teachers, invest in the profession, and in quality public education.
Valuing teacher voices: towards a new social contract for education
Overworked, undervalued, and underpaid, more and more teachers are leaving the profession they love and that the world needs. At the same time, few young people aspire to become teachers. The result is a global shortage of over 44 million teachers, a crisis that puts the right to education at risk. This has prompted a global call to strengthen the profession.
This World Teachers’ Day highlights the need to establish a more robust social dialogue with teachers everywhere. The 2024 celebrations will focus on "Valuing teacher voices: towards a new social contract for education". The theme underscores the urgency of engaging with teachers to address the challenges they face but, most importantly, to acknowledge and benefit from the expert knowledge and input they bring to education.
The official event marking World Teachers' Day will be livestreamed on the UNESCO website on October 4th from 9:30 am (CEST). Education International President Mugwena Maluleke will represent the teaching profession in the event. Tune in!
Join the global mobilisation calling on governments to engage in meaningful social dialogue with the profession. Here’s how you can add your voice.
Share Education International messages
Spread the word by sharing the post below on Twitter.
Teachers are at the ❤️ of education. They must also be at the 💙 of decision-making in education.
✊🏿 For teachers to be heard, education unions must be listened to. - @daveswords
Raise your voice in support of teachers on social networks. Use the suggested posts and images below and don’t forget to tag Education International so we can amplify your message:
If you would like the poster translated to your language, get in touch at [email protected]. We're happy to help!
Related Items
Standards and working conditions
6 February 2026
Union partnerships are redefining professional development worldwide
From Canada to The Gambia, from Denmark to Zanzibar, education unions are reshaping professional development as a collective, teacher-led project rooted in solidarity, dignity and local realities.
Trade union rights are human rights
4 February 2026
Urgent Action Appeal - Protect Teachers, Students, Unionists, and Education in Northeast Syria
Education International (EI) urgently calls on all member organisations to take action in response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Northeast Syria
and the severe threats facing teachers, students, unionists, and the entire education system established in Rojava, Syria.
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
30 January 2026
From vision to investment: Why the world needs the first-ever international finance summit for early childhood
Justin W. van Fleet
In November 2022, more than 150 governments and global stakeholders gathered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education. The outcome—the Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action for Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education—was a landmark moment. It reaffirmed a shared global truth: early childhood...
Follow the latest developments from the Union of Teachers of North and East Syria (UTNES) below!
The Union of Teachers of North and East Syria (UTNES), EI affiliate representing more than 40,000 education workers, has been instrumental in supporting a pluralistic, democratic, and inclusive education system in Rojava, the Kurdish-majority...
Fighting the commercialisation of education
9 December 2025
Trust cannot be automated: education unions shape the AI future
Around the world, artificial intelligence is being rapidly integrated into education systems. Governments and technology companies promise efficiency, “personalised learning” and data-driven decisions. But for teachers and their unions, AI raises far more fundamental questions: Who controls education? What happens to professional autonomy, democratic accountability, equity and labour rights when...
Education leaders call for urgent action to address global crisis in the teaching profession
World Summit on Teachers presents roadmap to address 50 global million teacher shortage and fully fund public education
SANTIAGO, CHILE – As ministers and education leaders prepare to convene for the World Summit on Teachers (WST) on 28-29 August 2025, the global teaching profession faces an unprecedented recruitment and retention crisis. The world needs 50 million more teachers by 2030 across early childhood, primary and secondary education, yet...
