Worldwide Action in Education TRAINING OF EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL

Improving Teachers' Qualifications and Status

Mathematics and Computer Science Teacher Training

5 October: International Teacher's Day

Improving Teachers' Qualifications and Status

In increasingly complex and rapidly-changing societies, everybody's cultural level and capacity to learn have to be enhanced. The teacher's task is therefore more important than ever before. However, while the key place occupied by teachers is coming to be re-emphasized, their status and professional standing are still underrated in most respects.

In this connection, one major initiative has been the launching in Africa of an exercise to assess teacher-training institutions and programmes, and to set up UNESCO-Chairs in the educational sciences, which will be particularly concerned with the relevance of teacher training. UNESCO has also engaged in a consolidated review of trends in pre-service and in-service training of teachers from 1960 to 1985 and in a study of the implications of structural adjustment programmes for professional standards among teachers. In addition, it has conducted case studies to evaluate the impact of initial training in the classroom.

Another thrust of UNESCO's programme can be seen in the development of co-operative networking activities and exchanges of experiences gained in teacher education. To this end UNESCO maintains regular consultations with the main teachers' associations: Education International, the World Confederation of Teachers and the World Federation of Teachers' Unions. Another example is the joint publication in 1993 of the UNESCO-ICET World Directory of Teacher-Training Institutions in conjunction with the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET).

Distance education, which makes it possible for teachers to continue studying without having to leave their teaching posts, has become a popular method of upgrading their qualifications. This method can also be used for supporting the professional advancement of teachers. The potential of distance education to improve teacher quality will be promoted through regional and subregional co-operation mechanisms.

Mathematics and Computer Science Teacher Training Over the last years, the UNESCO Kingston Office has supported the training of nearly 500 teachers in Maths, Computer Science and Physics. The training programme is conducted every summer for four weeks and participants are mainly secondary school teachers and teacher trainers; however, a growing number of primary school teachers have also benefited from the training. The programme, which is presented in collaboration with the Central Connecticut State University of the United States and the Ministry of Education of Jamaica prepares students for under-graduate and graduate degrees which they pursue on a part-time basis. Since the inception of the programme, about fifty percent (50%) of the participants have qualified for first degrees, and some of these have gone on to take Masters or Doctoral degrees. The programme, which has been supported over the years by USAID and the OAS, will be further expanded to the Caribbean subregion.

5 October: International Teacher's Day

The choice of 5 October, the anniversary date of the adoption of the ILO/UNESCO Recomendation on the Status of Teachers, as International Teacher's Day, along with the UNESCO Teaching Prize, can be said to represent significant tokens of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development.

Click here for the International Teacher's Day 1995