No human right to education without teachers: UN expert

NEW YORK (18 October 2023) – The human right to education simply cannot be realised without teachers, a UN expert said today.

“To achieve the goal of primary and secondary education for all by 2030, 68.8 million more teachers are needed. Despite international recognition of their pivotal role and increasing expectations for them to be digitally competent, able to respond to pandemics, conflict, displacement and multi-cultural settings, teachers – most of them women – are too often undervalued and undercompensated, poorly trained, and paid less than other professions requiring similar qualification levels. Many live below the poverty line, even in high income countries,” said Farida Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education.

In her most recent report to the General Assembly, Shaheed highlighted how teacher shortage has led to overcrowded classrooms and overworked teachers, resulting in a drop in education quality and educational attainment.

“As stressed by the UN Secretary-General, the global teacher shortage needs to be tackled urgently by making the teaching profession more attractive. This includes ensuring direct, open and meaningful participation of teachers in educational decision-making and reforms, and sufficient number of trained teachers enjoying decent work conditions,” the expert said.

“Teacher training is key to realising all aspects of the right to education, including making education more adaptable, inclusive and responsive to current challenges, mainstreaming gender equality, integrating the safe use of technology, and enhancing teachers’ skills for multilingual settings and strengthen their awareness for disability,” she said.

The Special Rapporteur called upon States to take forward the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of Teachers, and initiate genuine robust dialogues to build mutual trust between governments, teachers, their associations and trade unions, parents and communities.

“States must ensure that sufficient funds are allocated and used effectively and equitably. Their legal obligations remain extant in emergencies, conflicts, displacement or humanitarian settings,” Shaheed said.

She added that States have the responsibility to ensure that non-state providers of education do not infringe on the right to education. “For example, States can define and enforce minimum standards, including qualifications, training, working conditions, freedom of association and collective bargaining”.

The expert underlined that teacher diversity must mirror student diversity, for teachers are important agents of change, through their work and by who they are, leading by example.

ENDS

Ms. Farida Shaheed took office as Special Rapporteur on the right to education on 1 August 2022 following her appointment by the Human Rights Council. She is the Executive Director of Pakistan’s leading gender justice organization, Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre. She is also an independent expert/consultant to numerous United Nations, international and bilateral development agencies, the government of Pakistan, as well as civil society initiatives, and serves on multiple international and national advisory committees. She served as a member of Pakistan’s National Commission on the Status of Women, and as the first Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights from 2009 to 2015.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.