04/10/2025
๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ' ๐๐๐ฒ!
Every dream, whether to become a doctor, an engineer, an artist, or a leader, often starts with a teacher who saw potential before anyone else. Today, the world pauses to honor these quiet nation-builders who shape lives with patience, persistence, and hope.
World Teachersโ Day was established by UNESCO in 1994 to honor the 1966 Recommendation on the Status of Teachers, which set standards for their rights, responsibilities, and working conditions. Since then, it has been celebrated annually with a theme that mirrors the evolving role of educators. This year, World Teachersโ Day is grounded in the theme โRecasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession,โ reminding us that education thrives when it is shared, not carried alone. As the saying goes, "No man is an island"which remains true for teachers. They cannot carry the weight of education alone. To truly succeed, they need collaboration, support, and a community that stands with them.
Beyond celebration, World Teachersโ Day is also a moment to confront reality. Teachers in the Philippines continue to bear the weight of an education system filled with challenges. According to the EDCOM II report, teachers still spend much of their time on administrative work, with nearly fifty non-teaching tasks piled onto their already full workload. Instead of devoting their energy to lesson planning and fulfilling their roles, they are tied down by repetitive paperwork that keeps them from the heart of their calling.
Moreover, the struggle doesn't end there. Instead, it deepens as 62% of high school teachers are teaching subjects outside their field. This misalignment forces them to stretch themselves thin, and inevitably, it affects the quality of learning that students receive.
At the same time, Infrastructure also remains a pressing issue. The country remains short of more than 165,000 classrooms, forcing about 5.1 million students to study as โaisle learnersโ in overcrowded rooms. Teachers, despite their best efforts, are left to manage oversized classes under poor conditions, often with limited resources.
And yet, despite all these obstacles, teachers endure. They rise before dawn, travel long distances, and stay up late to finish their work. They carry burdens heavier than most of us will ever know, and still they manage to light the spark of curiosity and hope in the young minds they teach.
Therefore, World Teachersโ Day is not just a celebration and saying "thank you", but it is also a call to action. This yearโs theme reminds us that teaching is a collaborative effort. A teacher alone cannot survive the weight of the classroom, nor can they foster quality education without support. Teachersโ voices must be at the center of reform, not at the margins. They know better than anyone what works in classrooms and what does not, what hinders learning and what unlocks it. To honor them is not only to express gratitude but to stand beside them, to provide what they need, and to help them continue building the nation.
Today, as we pay tribute to our teachers, let us remember that their strength is not infinite. They're neither robots nor machines. Just like most of us, they can also experience burn out, stress and tiredness. Hence, their efforts must not be reciprocated solely with gratitude. It must be matched by action, and appreciation must be strengthened by support. And when we value teachers, we secure the future of every child, and with it, the future of our nation.
Happy World Teachersโ Day to the voices that carry education and to the hands that continue to build tomorrow.
Words by Lukman Andal
Layout by Sharlene Mengote
