The 21st Century Teacher

Young teachers - The future of the profession.

Teaching profession is arguably the noblest among its peers of discipline in life. To celebrate teachers globally, the United Nations in 1994 declared that 5 October of every year would be World Teachers Day (WTD) or International Teachers Day.

In the UN’s 19 Sustainable Development Goals, the fourth goal — education recognizes teachers as key players to the achievement of the Education 2030 agenda.

The 2019 WTD themed, “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession” is aimed at proffering ideas to attract and keep young persons to the profession.

There is a reason for that.

The United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said 69 million new teachers are needed to provide quality universal primary and secondary education by 2030, the deadline of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In Nigeria, millions of existing teachers are working without the needed support and training to impart knowledge to students in this digital age.

While technology has provided learning upgrades to help teachers in mentorship and guiding students academically, influencing both students and teachers, the impending challenges pose a huge threat to the delivery of its benefits.

Nigeria’s school deficit is one of the challenges of the country’s education. This has resulted in overpopulation in classes of most government-owned schools, stretching teachers beyond their natural limit.

Moreover, Nigerian teachers still have to grapple with poor conditions of service, lack of basic teaching aids and tools, underappreciation and poor funding.

Some of these reasons preclude young persons to only take up teaching as a last resort when seeking employment.

Well, am proud to say I am a teacher. I have been into the system since I graduated from Secondary school. I am proud to be a Young Teacher, I am proud to be the future of the profession.