NUT

The theme of the 2024 World Teachers’ Day, “Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education” is apt as it brings to focus the pivotal role teachers play in shaping the future of education and the need to value their knowledge, voice and participation in decision-making processes in education.

The rapidly changing world is facing a number of challenges which include climate change, technological expansion and digital divide, demographic changes, armed conflicts, natural disasters, pandemics and other emergencies. These developments have impacted education systems around the world, brought about complexities in the world of work, leading to a rising social and economic inequalities in nations across the globe.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2023) stated that 44 million additional teachers are needed to meet Universal Primary and Secondary Education in 2030. In Nigeria, UBEC (2024) survey indicated that there is a shortage of 194,876 teachers in public primary schools in the country. Budgetary allocations to education have remained a far cry from the internationally recommended benchmarks of at least 4 to 6 percent of GDP and or at least 15 to 20 percent of National budget.

The challenges have also impacted on education systems around the world, which brings to the fore the need for a new social contract for education that can address the emerging challenges and transform the future.

Education in crisis

Education has been universally acknowledged as a driving force of nation-building and the engine of social, cultural, economic and technological progress. However, education is today considered no longer fit for purpose. It is beset by crises of equity and relevance.  UNICEF (2022) stated that there are over 18 million out of school children in Nigeria, out of which 10 million are girls. Some challenges faced education systems include:

• Increasing teacher shortage;
• Underfunding and inadequate investment in education;
• Job dissatisfaction and attrition;
• Poor working conditions;
• Inadequate remuneration; and
• Lack of professional development and support.

A New Social Contract for Education

A new social contract for education entails a collective endeavour that provides the knowledge and innovation needed to shape sustainable and peaceful futures for all. It also requires that teachers not only impact skills and knowledge but also as knowledge producers, facilitators and guides. Teachers must be trained and empowered to work collaboratively with learners to actively transform teaching. A new social contract for education must be built on two foundational principles:

• The right to quality education throughout life, and
• A commitment to education as a public endeavor and a common good.

According to the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession (2024) to transform teaching through a new social contract for education the following must be considered;

• A coordinated and institutionalized social dialogue between government and teachers’ organization.
• Teachers’ organizations, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, should develop, implement and monitor professional standards for teachers.
• Employers to engage in social dialogue with teachers’ organizations and ensure decent work.
• Students should be engaged and be given opportunity to participate in the co-creation and evaluation of teaching and learning.

Valuing the Voices of Teachers

Teachers are often not accorded their rightful status in our education system. In many cases teachers are made to be mere implementers of education policies and programmes. This does not help effective delivery of education. It also undermines teachers’ professional autonomy and academic freedom.

According to UNESCO (2024) ignoring the voice of teachers has negative effects on both teacher status and motivation, and on the effectiveness of teacher programme and overall education policy. UNESCO-ITF (2022) noted that committing to improving teachers’ working conditions, recognizing their status and involving them to participate in social dialogue and decision-making is critical to transform education and ensure quality.

As the nation moves towards repositioning the teaching profession to meet the new challenges in education, the future of the teaching profession entails the following:

1. Promoting education as a human right;
2. Promoting education for living and for life;

• Increasing funding and investment in quality public education;

1. Quality training and continuous professional development;
2. Promoting equity through inclusive education;
3. Pursuit for professionalism and engagement, and retention of young motivated and dedicated professional teachers;

• Promoting teaching as a valued profession and making it attractive to the best;
• Promoting the use of technology in education and encouraging teachers to embrace it as an aid to quality education;

1. Greater commitment and enforcement of professional ethics and codes of conduct;
2. Review of the curricular of education institution to accommodate new developments including use of technology in education;
3. Involvement of teachers in formulation of education policies and effective implementation of the policies and reforms.

• Regard for teacher professional autonomy and academic freedom.

Indeed, teachers need a greater voice in decision-making, an enabling environment and a social support to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.