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.
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4
20 May 2026
Portugal: 25,000 teachers take to the streets to demand respect and good working conditions
Around 25,000 teachers marched in Lisbon on 16 May in a major national demonstration organised by Education International member organisation FENPROF. Education professionals from across the country came together to deliver a powerful message: “We are teachers. We shape the future. We demand recognition NOW!”
Education support personnel and education unions unite for gender justice
This year’s World Education Support Personnel (ESP) Day, May 16th, is an opportunity to celebrate, thank, and organise alongside ESP. Education International (EI) and its member organisations are focusing on gender justice in 2026. This reflects a structural reality across education systems worldwide: education support roles are highly feminised, systematically...
Go Public: Portuguese-speaking trade unions call for urgent action to strengthen public education
During the First Conference of the Education Trade Union Confederation of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP-SE), held in Lobito, Angola, from 4 to 8 May, trade unions from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and Sao Tome and Principe reaffirmed their commitment to defending education and the urgent...
May Day: Wisdom workers of the world, unite, inspire, lead!
We are Education International. We are over 33 million teachers and education workers across 180 countries and territories. We educate the world.
In our classrooms, in our schools and universities, in our communities, we stand together for public education, for our profession, for people and planet.
Fighting the commercialisation of education
30 April 2026
Nepal: Education unions call on government to “Go Public” and increase investment in education
Education unions in Nepal are calling on the government to significantly increase public investment in education and strengthen social dialogue to ensure quality education for all.
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.
