EDITORIAL - Standing with teachers
In 1966, the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization forged an agreement establishing global benchmarks for teachers’ rights, recruitment, employment and working conditions.
Today, as the 60th anniversary of the ILO-UNESCO agreement is marked on World Teachers’ Day, the 1966 vision remains unfulfilled. This is according to Education International, the global federation of teachers’ trade unions, representing 32 million educators and support personnel from pre-school to university in 178 countries and territories.
Regular protests staged by public school teachers in the Philippines will bear out this assessment.
The 1966 Recommendation had provided a global framework for defining teachers’ rights and responsibilities. Standards were set for, among other things, initial and continuing teacher education, salary and employment security, working conditions, collective bargaining and professional autonomy.
Sixty years later, this is the assessment of Education International: “Around the world, teachers continue to face excessive workloads, insufficient salaries, growing administrative burdens, attacks on academic freedom and professional autonomy, and worsening teacher shortages.”
The federation also noted that women account for the majority of teachers worldwide. But while serving as the “backbone of education systems,” the federation noted that in many parts of the world, women educators continue to suffer from discrimination, harassment, violence, low pay and unequal access to leadership positions.
Although the glass ceiling has largely disappeared in the Philippine teaching profession, the other problems cited by Education International persist.
In addition, Philippine teachers now find themselves dealing with bullying and mental health issues that have not only affected students’ academic performance but also led to deadly school violence perpetrated by teenage students. Because of an acute shortage of mental health professionals, teachers often double as guidance counselors.
World Teachers’ Day is marked today with the theme, “standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures.”
Considering the importance of education in national development, this special day should be marked by a commitment from policy-makers to improve protection for educators and make teaching an attractive and respected profession.
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