Al-Amn Magazine

F Gi ve teachers t he pri ori ty t hey deserve Import ant to ensure qua l i ty educat i on EDUCATION unding education and investing in teachers are key to ensuring the right to education for all and achieving all Sustainable Development Goals. This message was heard loud and clear on April 11 at the Global Gateway High-Level Education Event co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The event marked the regional launch of the  59 recommendations put forward by the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession as an action plan and a call to action for governments to end the global teacher shortage. “The teacher shortage is a global crisis, undermining students’ right to quality education and democratic societies. Globally, we need 44 million more colleagues, and this is just within primary and secondary education. We need more colleagues in early childhood education and technical and vocational education and training too. And teachers working in disadvantaged or hard to reach communities need more colleagues most urgently. Teachers across the world are committed to providing inclusive and quality education but need the enabling conditions – including manageable workloads and class sizes, and collegial support – to be able to meet their students’ needs,” stated Education International Vice- President for Europe Johanna Jaara Åstrand at the European High-Level Education Event. Teachers’ voices heard The Education International Vice-President and President of The Swedish Teacher Union stressed that the 59 recommendations of the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession bring teacher issues back into the spotlight almost 60 years after the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers was adopted. Teachers finally feel heard. The three main areas for urgent action highlighted by the union leader include: Ensuring quality working conditions, including attractive salaries and job security. The short-sighted policy of hiring underqualified personnel on precarious contracts must end. Governments must invest in raising the status of teachers at all levels of education. Providing quality initial training, mentoring, support, and professional development opportunities. Professional standards should be co-developed, implemented and monitored by the teaching profession to guarantee quality teaching. Teachers need their well-being protected, their