As ministers and education leaders prepare to convene for the World Summit on Teachers (WST) on 28-29 August, 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 qualified educators are fleeing classrooms due to systematic government failures.
The WST, convened by UNESCO and hosted by the Government of Chile, brings together ministers, UN agencies, teacher unions, civil society organisations and education experts to address the shortage and advance implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 - inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
Building on this commitment to transformation, Education International arrives in Santiago with a clear framework for addressing the global teacher shortage that centers on concrete solutions and immediate action.
Teacher voices from across all continents will bring firsthand accounts of public education systems under pressure. Their unified message: structural transformation is essential, not cosmetic fixes.
Post about the Summit
Here are sample messages that you can share on your social media:
📢I am joining colleagues at the UNESCO World Summit on Teachers to call on governments to address the global teacher shortage of 50 million and commit to fully funding public education.
👩🏼🏫👩🏽🏫👩🏿🏫The World Summit on Teachers is an unprecedented opportunity to move from words to action!!! Governments MUST commit to fully funding public education and investing in teachers.
Africa ECE Network: Unions sharpen strategies to develop and strengthen early childhood education
Improving the professional status of early childhood education (ECE) personnel is central to improving both access and quality. Education unions across Africa are strengthening their collective advocacy to secure quality ECE, as well as recognition and decent conditions for workers in this sector.
Iraq: Union takes stock of obstacles in the Kurdistan region
To tackle issues facing educators and the education system, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) organised a seminar entitled “The Obstacles Facing the Educational Process in the Kurdistan Region”.
Trade union rights are human rights
18 February 2026
Education International receives the 2026 AOb AcademieKus Award
Education International (EI) has been awarded the 2026 AOb Academy Kiss
, an annual recognition presented by the General Education Union (AOb) in the Netherlands
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
16 February 2026
Vanuatu: Teacher Union Embraces Global Call to Go Public and Fund Education
Advocating for increased and sustained public investment in education to strengthen the teaching profession and improve learning outcomes, the Vanuatu Teachers Union (VTU) has launched the Education International (EI) Go Public! Fund Education
campaign nationwide. It emphasized the need for the government to invest in teachers through fair remuneration, quality...
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.
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
29 August 2025
Historic Santiago Consensus puts teachers at the heart of education transformation
World Summit on Teachers delivers comprehensive framework demanding sustainable investment in teaching profession
Ministers, teacher unions, and education leaders meeting at the World Summit on Teachers in Chile have adopted the Santiago Consensus
, a comprehensive framework that commits governments to address the global shortage of 50 million teachers through concrete policy action.
