I took my education for granted. Hundreds of millions of children can only dream of being that lucky.
My education took place in a run-of-the-mill state school in the UK; I passed my exams and went onto complete a marketing degree at university before embarking on a career in marketing. Simple. Straightforward.
I don’t think I ever thought during my education how lucky I was to have a qualified teacher in front of me that helped me to learn, challenge and question the world around me.
Over the last 4 and a half years working for the Commonwealth Education Trust, I have learned the true scale and impact teachers have on the learning outcomes of their learners.
Everywhere, educators are challenged with overcrowded classes, poor infrastructure and teachers entering their classrooms with a lack of skills, resources and updated practices to provide children with a good education.
This is why World Teachers’ Day matters.
It is time to acknowledge the fantastic job teachers are doing – especially in challenging situations – but also to recognise where they need support. At the Commonwealth Education Trust, we’ve discovered in many low- and middle-income settings there are many teachers actively teaching without the necessary qualifications. We bridge this gap with accessible, low-data, bitesize and contextualised online courses on our award-winning teacher professional development platform, Teach2030.
In the countries where we work, we often find that negative attitudes towards personal development are preventing teachers from upskilling. It can be seen as a sign of weakness. This means that qualified teachers never get the opportunity to develop any skills. Through our work with partners and the Teach2030 Ambassador programme, which are helping to change this mindset.
To date, our Teach2030 courses have reached over 20,000 teachers in over 100 countries and we have an overall course completion rate of over 40%, which exceeds online courses averages.
“Teach2030 has helped me to make my teaching more innovative. I would like to encourage others to use Teach2030 to improve their teaching and achieve professional growth.”
Shubhangi, a teacher from India.
Support us this World Teachers’ Day by making a donation that will provide more teachers with access to teacher professional development.
Thank you to all teachers around the world, keep up the great work.
Written by Adam, Marketing Lead at The Commonwealth Education Trust.
