Concept Note Regional Virtual Meetings - Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future

Organized by UNESCO, the international community celebrates World Teachers’ Day (WTD) every year on 5 October since 1994 to commemorate the signing of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. Complementing this landmark achievement, WTD also commemorates the adoption, in 1997, of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel. With teachers often cited as the single most important input to ensure education quality, WTD provides an annual occasion to take stock of teachers by measuring progress related to Target 4.c. of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as shine a light on the challenges teachers face in their role to deliver quality education.

This year, WTD will be celebrated under the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”, which acknowledges the context of unprecedented disruption of education due to challenges imposed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on already constrained education systems.