Ei-iE

NEW YORK – Only months after the groundbreaking recommendations of a United Nations panel on the teaching profession, UN Secretary Antonio Guterres Thursday put teachers at the center of what he called “a four-point plan to end the global education crisis.”

“We must support the women and men on the front lines of education: teachers,” Guterres said. “Following the Transforming Education Summit, the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession has developed concrete recommendations to ensure that every learner has access to a professionally trained, qualified and well-supported teacher.”

Released in February, the Panel’s 59 recommendations said governments must increase investment in public education systems, including quality teacher training and professional development, guarantee labor rights and decent working conditions, involve teacher unions in policymaking and trust and respect teachers and their professional expertise.

In his remarks, Guterres echoed the key findings of the panel, including “a dramatic shortage of teachers — an estimated 44 million worldwide. And millions of teachers lack the support, tools and continuous training they need.”

The other planks of Guterres plan call for closing the financing gap, gaining more than $115 billion in revenue through better taxation and more efficient public expenditure, closing the access gap that leaves millions of students, especially girls and those in conflict zones, out of school, and for “a revolution within education systems themselves” that would “end the over-reliance on testing and rote-learning, and add “a strong focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as skills in green and digital technology.”

Guterres' plan was issued at a UN Special Event on Transforming Education in New York attended by education advocates from around the world. EI General Secretary David Edwards praised Guterres and Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed during his remarks at the event, noting that 45 EI member organizations around the world have taken up the UN Panel’s call to advocate the forming of commissions with their governments to focus on critical issues like finance and the teacher shortage.

“This is the first time in 60 years, that there has been focused worldwide attention to the teaching profession – to the teacher shortage, to wellbeing, to working conditions, to the time, the tools and the trust teachers need to be able to do their jobs,” Edwards said.

Concluding the special session, Mohammed said, “I'm going to shout out to my friend David Edwards because you have certainly put fire under our feet about transforming education. But you've also helped us to bring solutions and bring teachers more mainstream into this discussion.”