On the World Teachers’ Day-2020 (Oct 5, Theme - “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future"), in a joint message, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF David Edwards, General Secretary, Education International made the following main statements.
Because of COVID-19, nearly 1.6 billion learners – more than 90% of the world’s total enrolled student population – have been affected by school closures. The COVID-19 crisis has also affected over 63 million teachers, highlighted persistent weaknesses in many education systems and exacerbated inequalities, with devastating consequences for the most marginalized.
In this crisis, teachers have shown, as they have done so often, great leadership and innovation in ensuring that #LearningNeverStops, that no learner is left behind. Around the world, they have worked individually and collectively to find solutions and create new learning environments for their students to allow education to continue.Their role advising on school reopening plans and supporting students with the return to school is just as important.
We now need to think beyond COVID-19 and work to build greater resilience in our education systems, so we can respond quickly and effectively to these and other such crises. This means protecting education financing, investing in high-quality initial teacher education, as well as continuing the professional development of the existing teacher workforce.
To build a more resilient teacher workforce in times of crisis, all teachers should be equipped with digital and pedagogical skills to teach remotely, online, and through blended or hybrid learning, whether in high-, low- or no-tech environments. Governments should ensure the availability of digital infrastructure and connectivity everywhere, including in rural and remote areas.
Some other relevant states from UN Agencies are as follows.
Investing in quality pre-service teacher education or initial teacher education (ITE) will be key to building more resilient education systems post COVID-19. In addition, better preparing teachers for the classroom including innovation and problem solving to manage complex unforeseen situations is necessary. Likewise, investing in continuing professional development (CPD) and in-service education and training (INSET) to upskill under- or unqualified teachers will be increasingly critical to mitigate capacity weaknesses as well as ensure that working teachers are included in a system-wide reform of teacher education so that all teachers have the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure no one is left behind. ~SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee
By mid-April 2020, almost every country in the world had implemented nationwide closures of schools and other educational institutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting over 1.57 billion learners, representing over 90% of the world’s total enrolled student population. These actions, while essential to contain the spread of the disease and protecting public health, could precipitate a global learning crisis at all levels of the education system. During the crisis, the focus of the educational response has been on ensuring learning continuity through the mobilization of a range of no-, low-, and high-tech resources and modalities, to bring learning content from school settings into learners’ homes ~In Supporting teachers and education personnel during times of crisis, Corporate author:UNESCO
Comments