Teachers are the “single most important element in education systems” and must be respected, supported, paid well, and on time — including those working in emergency settings — according to a new report by a United Nations high-level panel on the teaching profession.
Set up following the 2022 U.N. Transforming Education Summit, or TES, the panel was tasked with coming up with clear recommendations on how to reform the teaching profession amid persistent teacher shortages, high attrition rates, the increasing use of unqualified and contract teachers, low salaries, poor professional development, and severely delayed payment of teachers working in crisis contexts.
The report, officially launched in South Africa on Monday, comes as new data estimates countries must recruit an additional 44 million primary and secondary school educators by 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing the most severe shortage, needing about 15 million more teachers.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
