Being the 50th anniversary of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendations concerning the Status of Teachers, 2016 also marks the start of operationalization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by the United Nations’ 193 Member States in September 2015, the SDGs have 17 goals, of which Goal 4 - “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, targets education specifically. The new education agenda set for the next 15 years is comprehensive, holistic, ambitious, aspirational and universal, inspired by a vision of education as a driver of development that can transform the lives of individuals, communities and societies, leaving no one behind.

Recognizing that teachers are key to bring about quality education and achieve all of the Education 2030 agenda, the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action has articulated a collective commitment to this vision by 2030: to ensure that all teachers and educators are professionally qualified, well-trained, motivated and well-supported. The Framework for Action also states the need to urgently and adequately recruit and empower teachers, so as to address the acute shortages of teachers and high attrition rate. By 2030, about 27.3 million teachers have to be recruited, of which 23.9 million are replacements for attrition and 3.4 million as new teachers to achieve universal primary education. 

After fifty years of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendations concerning the Status of Teachers, a few key questions remain pertinent: ‘What have we learnt in the last five decades in advocating and promoting teacher status, recruitment, training and retention?’; ‘How are we to close the gap in these areas in the next 15 years to Education 2030 targets?’. This forum is more than a commemoration of World Teacher’s Day and the 50th Anniversary of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendations concerning the Status of Teachers. It is a strong reminder that much still has to be done to truly value teachers and their critical role in ensuring quality education. The event will do a stock taking of fifty years since 1966, facilitate dialogues, knowledge sharing amongst countries, international, regional, and sub-regional organizations/networks/bodies working on teacher issues.

Objectives

The main objectives of the forum are to provide a platform to:

1. review teacher policies with reference to the 1966 recommendations and examine the gaps in promoting teacher status and improving their working conditions; and
2. discuss policies impacting teacher issues

Expected Outcomes in line with SDG4; Education 2030 Vision

1. Gather inputs on ground needs of teachers 
2. Gather inputs on possible actions to improve teacher status

Participants

The estimated 100 participants include, Ministry of Education officials and policy makers from Asia-Pacific member states, experts and specialists in teacher education and professional development, representatives from regional, sub-regional organizations/networks, UNESCO partners.

Programme

World Teachers Day Forum 2016 Concept Note and Program Outline (.pdf, 364kb)

Organizer:    UNESCO Bangkok
Date:            5th – 6th October 2016
Venue:         The Sukosol Hotel, 477 Si Ayuthaya Road, Phayathai, Pathumwan, 10400 Bangkok, Thailand

Presentations

• Revisiting the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers in the Context of Education 2030 (Mr. Libing Wang, Chief of Section, Educational Innovation and Skills Development, UNESCO Bangkok) - .pdf, 3.4mb

• The Role of School Leadership in Teacher Career Progression (Mrs. Belinda Charles, Dean, Academy of Principals, Singapore)

• Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the Asia-Pacific region: A Resource Pack (Ms. Maki Hayashikawa, Chief, Section for Inclusive Quality Education, UNESCO Bangkok) - .pdf, 1.2mb

• Developing Strategies for Efficient Teacher Placement in ASEAN Countries (Mr. Keiichi Ogawa, Professor and Department Chair, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University, Japan) - .pdf, 705kb

• Teacher Status & Career Paths in Asia Pacific: Promoting Teacher Growth in Education Policies and Practice (Ms. Satoko Yano, Programme Specialist, UNESCO Bangkok) - .pdf, 432kb

Display at the Forum: Valuing Teachers: Narratives of Teachers’ Good Work

At the Forum, we are also featuring stories about teachers. The narratives have been collected from schools and institutions from the Asia-Pacific members states and are designed and printed as full height posters to be displayed at the event.

Forum Summary Report

• Click here (.pdf, 477kb) for full report.

Contact

• Ms. Mun Yee Lee, Associate Programme Specialist, Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development (EISD), UNESCO Bangkok, Email: my.lee@unesco.org

• Team EISD, UNESCO Bangkok, Email: eisd.bgk@unesco.org 

Resources
>>> Sustainable Development Goals SDGs (www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals)
>>> UNESCO. 2015. Education 2030. Incheon Declaration: Towards Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for All (https://en.unesco.org/world-education-forum-2015/incheon-declaration)
>>> UNESCO. 2014. Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14. Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All (unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002266/226662e.pdf)
>>> Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): A Resource Pack (www.unescobkk.org/resources/e-library/publications/article/innovative-pedagogical-approaches-in-early-childhood-care-and-education-ecce-a-resource-pack)
>>> Innovative Pedagogical Approaches and Tools (www.unescobkk.org/education/ecce/what-we-do/ecce-teacher-development/innovative-pedagogical-approaches-and-tools)

Click here for photo album

(Please download photo album, or prefered pictures you want to, from above hyperlinked title as it will expire on 31-Dec-2016, Saturday)