Iraq: Teachers celebrated as the cornerstone of a sustainable society
The contribution of teachers was celebrated by the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) and Cihan University to mark World Teachers’ Day, 5 October, and Kurdistan Teachers’ Day, 6 October.
At a joint ceremony, the KTU and Cihan University leadership highlighted the crucial role of teachers in ensuring a good future for the community. The contribution of retiring teachers was acknowledged and the memory of over 70 deceased teachers was honoured by attendees.
This event joined the many initiatives undertaken by teacher unions around the globe on World Teacher’s Day to pay tribute to teachers and education support personnel deceased from COVID-19 and to honour their legacy.
Teachers raise up the community
During the ceremony, the President of Cihan University, Dr. Nawzad Yahya Bajger, highlighted the role of teachers “in raising and educating the community towards a higher level”.
He emphasised that beneficial changes only come about through education and the involvement of teachers. He also urged concerned authorities and relevant parties to better cater to the needs of teachers by providing them with adequate means of living.
Underlining the need to raise teachers' professionalism, he announced that his university was ready, with KTU’s help, to offer special courses to that end.
Education must be prioritised by government
“If we want to have a functioning society, the government must put education and graduate studies among the priorities of its agenda and allocate a proper budget,” added KTU President Abdalwahed M. Haje.
He seized the opportunity to reaffirm the need to:
- Build appropriate and modern educational buildings and facilities
- Organise special courses to train teachers on current teaching and learning methods and enhance the use of technology to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic
- Take care of the environment and fight climate change
In his conclusions, the KTU leader regretted that “education is not a governmental priority in our country and the government has not provided teachers with the appropriate standard of living”. He also deplored the fact that a bill before the Kurdistan Parliament stating that “teachers are sacred and they are blessed” had been rejected. KTU had lobbied for two years to get this law passed.
