TEACHERS for Gender Equality' is the theme of this year's World Teachers' Day, observed worldwide every October 5.Ahead of the commemoration, UNESCO's Institute for Statistics released a data, which demonstrated that at least, an additional two million teachers would be needed to meet the internationally agreed goals of Universal Primary Education (UPE) by 2015.According to UNESCO, while shortages do not only concern developing countries, the United States, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Sweden are among the 112 countries suffering from the same problem. The Sub-Saharan Africa alone, according to the data, accounts for more than half the demand.Specifically, insufficient staffing affects the different regions as follows: Sub-Saharan Africa (1,115,000 teachers required), Arab States (-243,000 teachers), South and West Asia (-292,000), North America and Western Europe (-155,000). Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean on the other hand, account for only 11 per cent of the global shortage of teachers required to meet the 2015 target for achieving UPE.These figures, UNESCO explained, do not take into account the number of teachers leaving the profession for a variety of reasons such as retirement, illness, or career change. To meet the total shortage, 6.1 million teachers will be needed between 2009 and 2015.This year's theme celebrates a profession in which women outnumber men in primary schools, accounting for 62 per cent of teachers worldwide. In some countries, women account for as high as 90 per cent of primary school teachers. But their working conditions, pay, and status are deteriorating.A statement by UNESCO's Director General, Irina Bokova, co-signed by the heads of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Labour Organization (ILO), Education International (EI) and the international federation of education trade unions.noted: 'If we want to give equal opportunities to our daughters and sons to realize their full potential and claim their rights, we must devise policies and strategies that attract and motivate capable women and men to teach, while also enabling them to create gender-equal learning environments.'Education Minister, Prof. Ruqquayyatu Rufai described the theme as apt, 'considering the fact that Nigeria has gender issues as regards education.' She also acknowledged that the teaching profession in Nigeria was skewed in favour of women.The Minister said the Federal Ministry of Education acknowledges the efforts of state governments and all other tiers: the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), UNESCO and other stakeholders in promoting the course of education.Her words: 'The current administration recognizes and upholds the need for quality education in our schools through regular training and re-training of teachers, provision of teaching materials for schools as well as provision of incentives to teachers.'The minister also implored all stakeholders to take active interest in promotion education, saying government alone could not continue to shoulder the responsibility. 'Nations in the world that have achieved greatness and economic progress have all invested considerably in human capital development which has put them on the map of economic giants in the various international bodies such as the G-8, the Paris Club and the London Club among others,' she observed.Activities organized at the UNESCO headquarters to mark the event included testimonies by teaching professionals about 'Gender at school: an essential question of education,' and an open forum on gender issues in the teaching force. Besides, the results of the Policy Forum on Gender Equality: Looking beyond Parity in Education, held at UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) on October 3 and 4 was presented. A new publication: Women and the Teaching Profession: Exploring the Feminization Debate in Selected Commonwealth Countries, was also unveiled.Celebrated since 1994, World Teachers' Day commemorates the anniversary of the 1966 signing of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, with its guidelines concerning educational policies, curricula, training, employment, work conditions and teachers participation in decision-making.
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