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On October 5th we celebrate World Teachers’ Day, a global moment dedicated to recognizing the vital role teachers play in shaping our societies and futures.
This day serves as a powerful reminder of the significance of educators and their impact on students worldwide each year. This year, with the theme of ‘Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession’, we reflect on the voices of teachers, celebrate their contributions and commit to working together to create a future where their expertise is valued and their profession is strengthened through collaboration.
Quality teaching as a pillar of the GPE approach
In alignment with the vision of the 2025 Santiago Consensus, teachers are the cornerstone of resilient and inclusive education systems. GPE helps partner nations put quality teaching at the center of education reform because of this. In Tanzania, there has been a focus on teacher workforce planning and management, gender equality and inclusion, and better teaching and learning environments. Through GPE support, the country is working to enhance teacher education curricula at all levels, improve teacher recruitment and deployment strategies, sustain continuous professional development processes and improve teacher motivation and accountability.
In order to raise the standard of education, Cambodia has also given teacher reform top priority. Working with UNESCO, the GPE-funded Strengthening Teacher Education Programs in Cambodia (STEPCam) initiative has supported the development of a national system for continuous professional development, scaled up the early-grade teacher training program, renovated teacher training centers and upgraded the qualifications and competencies of teachers and teacher educators.
Meanwhile, Tonga is building resilience in its education system with GPE support, equipping teachers to cope with climate-related disasters and strengthening school safety so learning can continue even during crises.
Counting down to 2030
GPE’s work on teachers is underpinned by our partnership approach that insists on inclusive dialogue to inform national decision making and mutual accountability between all actors, including teachers and their representatives.
This implies the active involvement of teachers in education planning, policy development and monitoring processes through local education groups and other structures at the national level.
We will place a greater emphasis on this issue of teacher engagement under GPE 2030, GPE’s strategic plan for 2026–2030. This is because we are aware that teachers are frequently underrepresented in formal processes, despite the fact that real change must be driven by those closest to the classroom. The partnership will work to increase teacher participation and leadership by including diverse voices, particularly those of teachers who are women, disabled, or who live as refugees. This means strengthening the capacity of governments to engage with teachers and work with teacher organizations through platforms such as Education Out Loud where GPE amplifies civil society engagement, advancing inclusive and equitable policy change in more than 60 countries.
We also try to share our knowledge and experience to find out how other partners and partner countries have increased teacher engagement. Better and more money for teachers Global education budgets are being squeezed by chronic underfunding, fiscal pressures, and aid cuts, despite our advocacy for increased investment in education.
This has major implications for the financing of teaching profession, since teacher salaries make up the largest share of recurrent education spending.
At the same time, there are acute teacher shortages and attrition in many countries. In order to fill these gaps, we must mobilize more financing even in the present circumstances. We must also work to ensure that these resources are distributed more fairly and effectively. This reaffirms for GPE the requirement for a variety of mechanisms and tools to support more and better teacher financing, including novel financing. For example in Côte d’Ivoire, a creative debt swap arrangement through GPE’s Debt2Ed is channeling resources into improving education quality with a special focus on teacher training and professional development.
Another innovative method for obtaining additional funding for high-quality instruction is the GPE Multiplier. Nearly 30,000 teachers and school administrators in El Salvador have been trained with the assistance of GPE Multiplier funds to support the reintegration of returning migrant students, enhance early childhood education, and promote inclusion of children with disabilities. Through the establishment of digital learning centers and the training of tens of thousands of teachers across the country in Ukraine, Multiplier funding ensures that educators and displaced children can continue their education and access psychosocial support in the midst of conflict. GPE’s approach to results-based financing is another important mechanism, allowing for grant ‘top-ups’ to support partner country governments to stay on track and achieve tangible results.
Through this approach, Cameroon and Sierra Leone have moved thousands of teachers—previously funded by communities—onto the government payroll, easing the burden on low-income households as a result, while Tanzania has applied a nationwide teacher deployment policy that placed 98% of new primary teachers in schools with the greatest need, making education spending more equitable.