World Teachers' Day 2025: UNESCO, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF, and Education International, celebrated World Teachers' Day today, marking a global recognition of teachers' vital role in education.
Commemorating international teaching standards
The event commemorates the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers and the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation on higher-education teaching personnel, which establish international standards for teachers' rights, responsibilities, and professional conditions.
First celebration outside UNESCO headquarters
This year, for the first time, the international celebration is being hosted outside UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The African Union is hosting the event in Addis Ababa as part of the Pan-African Conference on Teacher Education (PACTED), coinciding with the launch of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) and the African Decade for Education. The choice underscores a renewed global and continental commitment to prioritising education and strengthening the teaching profession as drivers of sustainable development.
Collaboration as the core principle
World Teachers' Day 2025 emphasises collaboration as a core principle in professional learning and educational transformation.
Teaching as a collective endeavour
Global education frameworks increasingly highlight teaching as a collective endeavour, noting that high-quality education depends on cooperation, shared responsibility, and professional solidarity. According to the UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, promoting teaching as a collaborative career is essential for advancing Sustainable Development Goal 4 and creating supportive professional environments for teachers.
Challenges facing teachers
Despite their critical role in driving learning, inclusion, and innovation, many teachers work in isolation, lacking structures for collaboration with peers, mentors, and school leaders. This contributes to professional fragmentation, high attrition rates, and inequities in educational quality. UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force (TTF) estimate that an additional 44 million teachers will be required globally by 2030 to meet universal education targets.
Fostering collaboration from the start
Advocates say fostering collaboration from initial teacher education, through co-teaching, peer learning, and integrated school partnerships, can strengthen teachers' professional identity and impact. For instance, Ghana has institutionalized cooperative teaching practicums to provide pre-service teachers with supportive and structured learning experiences.
Event highlights in Addis Ababa
The event in Addis Ababa opened with a ceremony featuring high-level representatives from the convening organisations, followed by a panel discussion highlighting teachers' perspectives on collaboration and professional solidarity.
