‘TEACHERS AT THE HEART OF EDUCATION RECOVERY”.
WHY A TEACHER’S DAY  
With a view to recognise the efforts made by teachers from around the world, the
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on 5 October. It is celebrated to
recognize the rights and responsibilities of teachers and focuses on appreciating,
assessing and improving the educators of the world.
We may recall that the 5 October was proclaimed as World Teachers’ Day by United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994. The
day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO
Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers.

THE 2021 CELEBRATION: TEACHERS AT THE HEART OF EDUCATION RECOVERY”.
For the 2021 teacher’s day celebration, UNESCO has reminded us all that, “The
pandemic has shone a light on the irreplaceable value of the teaching profession in
society but also on the difficult working conditions facing many teachers,” write
UNESCO leaders in a statement.

“UNESCO also pointed out that: On World Teachers’ Day we are not only
celebrating every teacher. We are calling on countries to invest in them and prioritize
them in global education recovery efforts so that every learner has access to a
qualified and supported teacher.”
After nearly one and a half years into the COVID-19 crisis, the 2021 World Teachers’
Day focuses on the additional support that teachers need to fully contribute to the
recovery and the theme proposed is: “Teachers at the heart of education
recovery”.
Thus in 2021, teachers’ Day focuses on the effect that the pandemic has had on
education and on teachers, as well as the steps that need to be taken to ensure that
teaching personnel develop their full potential to play the role expected of them in
recovering from the pandemic and achieving the 2030 global education goal namely
the SDG Goals 4

2020-2021: TEACHERS HAVE BEEN MORE WANTED AND NEEDED THAN EVER

With the educational disruptions and school closures caused by the COVID-19
pandemic, we have witnessed world wide the crucial role of teachers in maintaining
learning continuity, as well as sustaining the very dynamics of households, families
and communities.

TEACHERS HAVE BEEN AT THE HEART OF EDUCATIONAL RESPONSES:
During the COVID 19 crisis, the world has witnessed how teachers have been at the
heart of educational responses namely:
• They have provided online teaching and learning
• They have prepared take home packages for students living in rural and
remote areas that lack the connectivity and technologies needed to pursue
online learning
• They have adapted their practices and diversified the formats, means and
contents of education to cater for the needs of learners, including their
socioemotional well-being
• And they have preserved and reinforced social interaction among learners,
fellow teachers and school communities, often checking in on students via
social media and messaging systems, and exchanging practices and
resources with other practitioners, enhancing a sense of community within the
profession

SUPPORTING TEACHERS WHO ARE AT THE HEART OF EDUCATION RECOVERY
With a view to overcome the multiple challenges of the post-pandemic recovery
phase, and in the best interest of all learners, it is a matter of urgency that at national
and international level, we restore the role of teachers as key actors in rebuilding
more adaptive education systems that are more resilient against future shocks, and
ensure equity and inclusion for all learners at all times.
POLICIES TO SUPPORT TEACHERS FOR AN EFFECTIVE POST COVID RECOVERY
Today, with the transformations that we have witnessed in education and the
challenges that all the teaching community are facing, there is a pressing need for
innovation and new forms of policy support for teachers for an effective recovery that
leaves no one behind and that builds foundations for resilience-building and
reimagining education.
We should develop a new Continuous Professional Development System, the
decision-making process at all level and the overall working condition of the teachers
CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The continuous professional development program to be developed, should meet
teachers where they are and should aim at supporting them to improve their
practices, trusting the pedagogical judgement of trained and experienced teachers and equipping them with the skills to use educational technologies to support
learning and a shift to hybrid teaching and learning, adapting content and
pedagogical practices to a diversity of learners with different needs, wants and
aspirations.
It should also include the levelling of learning to make up for interrupted educational
pathways, adapting and contextualizing education to teach at the right level, and
taking into account the learning losses and gains that might have been produced
during the pandemic. These will definitely require specific pedagogical knowledge to
assess learning at classroom level and to adjust the curriculum to tailor teaching to
different needs.
These are crucial elements that should be embedded in all teacher education
program so that new practitioners and the new generation of educators are better
prepared for future crisis and for taking advantage of technological developments
and the possibilities they offer to enrich and individualize teaching to meet the needs
of all learners
EVERY DAY NEED TO BE A TEACHER’S DAY
We should consider every day as a teacher’s day. With the new world economic,
political, social, ecological, health, technological context and the advent of the world
4th industrial revolution, we need to constantly engage ourself in multi-dimensional
and constructive policy dialogue with a view to support all teachers within a lifelong
perspective, including the novice to experienced teachers and from early childhood
educators to higher-education professors, technical and vocational education and
training adult education and literacy practitioners.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The setting up of a National COVID 19 Educational Recovery Working Committee
In line with the COVID 19 educational recovery process, there is a pressing need to
set a multi partner national working committee to collectively think and recommend
new innovative policies, educationally and culturally appropriate pedagogical
approaches, curriculum enrichment and other related protocols in the best interest of
all learners without any form of discrimination.

“Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of
society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the Earth.” —Helen
Caldicott, Physician and Author

Reedha Rajendra Coomar
Vice-Président Réseau International d’Innovation et de Prospective -Québec
Secrétaire Générale -Observatoire de la Parentalité de l’Océan Indien -Réunion Island
Chairman Fondation Pour l’Enfance Terre de Paix
Chairman Centre for Holistic Education development