Most of us reminisce about our schooldays and the teachers who shaped us into who we are today. We remember our teachers, not so much because we recall their classes or lessons, but because they were able to connect with us in a profoundly human way. That is why it is important on World Teachers’ Day, which is observed every 5 October, to reflect on the status and the future of the profession, which in many ways is in crisis.  

For many, school mostly brings back special memories: the delicious woody smell of that first page in a new workbook, covered in brown paper and plastic, labelled with our name and perhaps decorated with a picture cut from a magazine. Most of us recall at least one special teacher who touched our lives in some special way. I was lucky enough to have many of them at school and later at university, too. In primary school, I remember Ms Steyn, who welcomed us to Sub A (Grade 1 today) with stories on a felt board, and Mr Minnie who, in Standard 4 (Grade 6), taught skoonskrif (cursive writing) and had the most beautiful handwriting I’ve ever seen. In high school, the legendary Mrs Rina Payne was a mentor, mother and friend to all those, especially girls, who needed a kind or wise word. My teachers are woven into the tapestry of my life and have helped me become who I am today.

Later, as the first in my family to attend university, I remember Professor DAP Louw, a legendary figure in psychology, who captivated us with stories that had students hanging on his every word and wishing they would one day know as much as he did. And of course, my supervisor and mentor at the University of Pretoria (UP), Prof Cecilia Bouwer, who can only be described as the epitome of excellence, humanity, dignity and professionalism, and whose students, I think, truly believe they are part of an exclusive club of excellence for having been prepared under her mentorship. There were many others, perhaps unnamed but no less important, who added stitches to the tapestry that is my life.

First commemorated in South Africa in 1994, World Teachers’ Day was preceded by the International Labour Organisation/UNESCO’s Recommendations Concerning the Status of Teachers, adopted in 1966, and later the Recommendations Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel, adopted in 1997. Both these declarations drew attention to the importance of teachers in the lives of children and young people, and the need to transform the profession. They also sought to ensure that quality education remains unencumbered by social and political pressures exerted by societies in transition.

In 2024, the UNESCO High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession released several recommendations to support the goal of quality education for all. It recognised that the status of the teaching profession is increasingly plagued by teacher shortages, poor working conditions and hardship, and that the importance of education as a human right and public good is undeniably at the heart of efforts to ensure sustainable and quality education.  

Most of the themes addressed in the UNESCO recommendations are directly addressed by UP’s Faculty of Education. These include calling for transformation in the teaching profession and elevating its status and dignity; investing in teachers; promoting equity and inclusion; fostering innovation; ensuring peace and sustainability; developing leadership and fostering humanity; and advancing human-centred education technology.

For example, since 2020, about 150 students have graduated from the faculty with a Postgraduate Diploma in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and have gone on to develop leadership competence in the TVET sector. Since 2018, UP’s partnership with the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship has resulted in about 79 students who held Bachelor of Education degrees and Postgraduate Certificates in Education being the recipients of a scholarship from the foundation that awards deserving candidates with the aim of supporting them to become excellent teachers. 

Transforming teacher curricula to bring innovation to teaching; contributing to better quality early childhood education; and building resilient educational systems that promote the well-being of teachers and students are some of the areas in which education faculties can contribute to a global agenda for quality education.

Today, far too many teachers feel overwhelmed and undervalued, and are leaving the profession to preserve their well-being. Many more do not want to enter the profession or enter it as a last resort. If society has any hope of achieving a sustainable, quality educational system, we have to value teachers as the true heart of the system and accord them the appropriate status as the architects of society. This priority must be reflected in the government’s funding of education faculties and supported with appropriate resources. We must provide teachers with a decent work environment, recognise their status and actively promote their well-being while providing appropriate remuneration that is commensurate with their vital role in achieving a society that is characterised by equity, equality and inclusivity.

If we are able to do this, then our children will one day have the privilege of looking back at their schooldays and reminiscing about that one teacher who went the extra mile for them, who was a rock for them when they felt lost and who cheered them on. Our children’s success and well-being is what matters most to every great teacher. The next generation of South African children deserve nothing less. 

Professor Salomé Human-Vogel, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Education  at the University of Pretoria.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Pretoria.