World Teachers’ Day is celebrating its 28th anniversary this year, with the theme “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers.”

Every year on October 5, World Teachers’ Day or International Teachers’ Day is observed.

This day is set aside to recognise, appreciate, and honour teachers for their efforts to their learners. On this day, many people organise meetings, workshops, and other events to highlight challenges that teachers face in the country and around the world and to discover answers to those challenges. This year marks the 28th anniversary of World Teachers’ Day and the theme is “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers”. 

The History of World Teachers’ Day

The day was established in 1994 in response to the UNESCO Recommendation concerning teachers, and it commemorates the marking of “teaching in freedom” in 1996. UNESCO designated October 5 as World Teachers’ Day in 1994 to commemorate the acceptance of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared October 5 to be World Teachers’ Day after this proposition was adopted.

This was part of the UNESCO-led intergovernmental meeting in Paris that recognised teachers’ status in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the 1966 International Labour Organization (ILO)/United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendation on teacher status. To supplement the 1966 recommendation, the recommendation concerning the status of higher education teaching professionals was adopted in 1997.