The international community has largely been focusing on achieving universal education, shown through agendas like the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All. These are important goals but the national community has started to realize that numbers are not all that matters. There has been a push for equity, quality, and ways of implementing education that consider the local community and culture.
However, reading the World Education Blog (WEB) has made me realize there is not enough focus on one of the key elements in implementing education: teachers.
Education in schools is impossible without them, but instead of focusing on how we (as a universal community) can recruit and retain enough well trained educators, we are focused on getting the kids into the schools. I feel like this is backwards; what is the point of having a bunch of children in school if there are not enough teachers for all of them?
Currently, there is a huge need for professional and well-supported teachers for both primary and secondary schools [1]. One WEB article by Pauline Rose highlights that if we are going to achieve universal primary education by 2015, we will need an extra 1.6 million teachers, a number that is only going to continue to grow as the population does.
If we want our children to receive (quality) education we need to start with our teachers.
Another WEB article by Sunny Varkey suggests the importance of respect for teachers [2]. I think that the international community needs to work to improve the poor reputations and status of teachers across the globe. The stigma currently surrounding teaching professions only further discourages people from becoming educators. Even in America I have had several people say to me, “Don’t be a teacher, you can do better than that” which sends the message that being a teacher is not to be valued.
Nobody wants to hold a position that isn’t valued. As UNESCO said many years ago, “It should be recognized that the proper status of teachers and due public regard for the profession of teaching are of major importance” [3]. If a culture or the community looks down upon being a teacher, people are less likely to pursue the profession and the shortage of teachers will continue.
Along the same lines, there is a need to increase incentives for teachers. If they are valued they are more likely to consider the profession, but higher salaries, greater benefits and better resources will help retain them. As another WEB article points out, research shows that when teachers are paid more, their students learn more [4]. Increasing scholarships and training centers for teachers will encourage them, and in places were gender equity is an issue, attracting female teachers can help this disparity [5].
Though getting children in school is important, we first need to focus on our teachers. Without quality training, incentives, resources, and respect from the community, the number of teachers will not keep up with the population. We need to improve and reinforce the importance of our educators because education without teachers is impossible.
[1] Rose, Pauline. “World Teacher’s Day shines spotlight on global teacher shortage | World Education Blog. World Education Blog. N.p., 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 5. Nov. 2013
<http://efareport.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/world-teachers-day-shines-spotlight-on-global-teacher-shortage/#more-3851>
[2] Varkey, Sunny. “Valuing teachers is about more than their salaries | World Education Blog. World Educaiton Blog. N.p., 14. Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Nove. 2013.
<http://efareport.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/valuing-teachers-is-about-more-than-their-salaries/#more-3909>
[3] UNESCO, Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. UNESCO.Org. 5 Oct 1966
[4] The World Bank: Building Human Capital In Afghanistan