This literacy day is for our educators….

September 8th is marked as International Literacy Day to observe the developments in literacy and education sectors throughout the world. There will be very important statistics revealed and discussed, we will discover new challenges waiting to be tackled and growing divides that need to be dealt with, the technological divide and the gender gap which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. Although these are serious concerns of the utmost importance, they cannot be dealt with as an isolated issue.

Our educators have a bigger role to play than we realize. They are the bridge between policy suggestions and their implementation. Skilled teachers have increased engagement in their classes and raise the chances of students pursuing higher education. UN cultural and educational observers repeatedly point out that stakeholders such as teachers are central to reaching policy goals such as a target higher education goal or school reforms. When not teaching, they support pupils emotionally and encourage them to do well. Educators influence students in more ways than just their teaching of curricula. Factors like creating a safe space for children to express themselves, supervising behavior, and mentoring students for effective and meaningful learning all fall under a teacher’s responsibility hence it is crucial to provide as much assistance to teachers as possible. We must help teachers for future generations.

• However, the ground reality shows a rather depressing picture. A study conducted by OECD found that elementary school teachers earn 22% less than their counterparts in other professions with similar educational levels. Our teachers are overworked and undervalued. OECD’s Teaching and learning international survey (TALIS). The survey reports the views of 260,000 teachers and school leaders from 48 countries. The survey revealed that full-time primary teachers in England work on average 52.1 hours a week and lower secondary (KS3) teachers 49.3 hours a week. England’s part-time teachers are working the equivalent of a full-time working week (35.7 hours in primary and 36.1 in lower secondary). Apart from finances, we have to comprehensively look at things like the teacher to pupil ratio, councilor to pupil ratio, classroom sizes, and resources available. One of UNESCO’s strategy for youth and adult literacy for the years 2020-2025 focuses on the role of educators. If educators are motivated, trained, and valued they can turn our goals of a literate decade into reality. This is a journey meant to be taken inclusive of all stakeholders in the educational sector.
• Works Cited
  Viennet, Romane, and Beatriz Pont. EDUCATION POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND PROPOSED FRAMEWORK. Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development, 2017, http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP(2017)11&docLanguage=En. Accessed 5 Sept 2020.

Croll, Paul et al. "Teachers And Education Policy: Roles And Models". British Journal Of Educational Studies, vol 42, no. 4, 1994, pp. 333-347. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00071005.1994.9974007.

Burke, Maria. "Overworked And Undervalued?". RSC Education, 2020, https://edu.rsc.org/analysis/overworked-and-undervalued/3010841.article.