World Teachers’ Day dedicated to transformation of education

5. 10. 2022

Government Communication Office

The motto of this year’s World Teachers’ Day is "The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers". It coincides with the recent session of the UN General Assembly and the Transforming Education Summit, which focused on education around the world having found itself in a crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teacher in the school — In Slovenia, World Teachers’ Day is commemorated with the traditional conferral of education awards presented every year since 1966 | Author Shutterstock.com

World Teachers’ Day was proclaimed by Unesco at the 1993 International Conference on Education in Geneva. The day commemorates the conference of 5 October 1966 in Paris, when UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation adopted the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, which is still applicable today.

The recommendation clearly sets forth the rights and responsibilities of pre-school teachers and teachers and discusses their rightful status in society given the challenging nature of their work.

The Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (SVIZ) has called attention to the overworked, underpaid and undervalued teaching profession. With the growing teacher shortage and the lack of interest in teaching among young people, General Secretary of SVIZ Branimir Štrukelj believes it is important to figure out how to make teaching appealing to as many young people as possible. According to official data, the country lacks around one thousand teachers, but unofficially the shortage is much greater.

School staffing shortages were also highlighted by Minister of Education, Science and Sport Igor Papič in his message marking the occasion. He states that the ministry would continue to strive for appropriate working and material conditions for the teaching staff. In June, after a decade-long pause, the ministry published a call for applications for classic traineeship posts for the 2022/2023 school year with an employment contract.

According to the data of the statistical office for the past school year, there were 12,486 pre-school teachers working in kindergartens, 22,795 teachers in primary education, 7,470 in secondary education and 5,540 in tertiary education on a full-time basis.

This day is celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world. In Slovenia, World Teachers’ Day is commemorated with the traditional conferral of education awards presented every year since 1966. Today, the recipients of this year’s awards will be announced at the award ceremony held in the Union Hall in Ljubljana.