Three education unions win the 2023 Norm Goble World Teachers’ Day Award
Ottawa, October 5, 2023 – On this World Teachers’ Day (WTD), three education unions in Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Uganda share the honour of winning the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) Norm Goble WTD Award.
Created in 2014, the Norm Goble Award is offered annually to support the wonderful WTD initiatives of various CTF/FCE foreign partners.
The successful organizations proposed various meaningful activities to highlight the teaching profession in their country and communities on WTD and we are delighted to support the initiatives of:
- The Gambia Teachers’ Union (GTU)
- Le Syndicat national de enseignants du secondaire et du supérieur (SNESS – Burkina Faso), and
- The Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU)
One criteria of the award is that plans relate to the CTF/FCE 2023 WTD theme: “Teachers: making sense of our world.” The CTF/FCE is pleased to provide each of these National Teacher Organizations with $1,500 CAD to support their WTD activities.
Word Teachers’ Day Activities planned in Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Uganda
The SNESS will host a public conference in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso to highlight teachers and the important role they play in the nation’s current struggles against violent extremism and ongoing insecurity. The conference will underscore how the teaching profession will continue to adapt its practices to foster critical thinking skills, to further engage parents and communities to respond to urgent needs, and to sharpen its focus on inclusive education. As SNESS states, “inequitable […] treatment is often the source of injustice […] and social violence”. SNESS WTD activities will focus on equitable teaching practices and on building respect for teachers, as teachers are best placed to shine a light on the need for safety, inclusion, and democracy.
The GTU will organize and host radio programmes in seven regions throughout the Gambia to celebrate teachers, advocate for quality, equitable, publicly funded education and better working conditions, to establish an environment more conducive to teaching and learning. They will also hold tree planting activities in four regions, to raise awareness about the importance of trees and their role in maintaining an ecological balance, to combat pollution, and to provide climate change mitigation. The GTU aims to raise awareness about the role teachers play in shaping the future, and to honour the teaching profession while ensuring teachers receive credibility, respect, and recognition for the work they do.
In Uganda, the UNATU will hold a national celebration to advocate for increased access to mental health and psycho-social support for teachers. Events will include a media campaign as well as television and radio talk shows and will complement annual week-long “Appreciate My Teacher” events that began in 2021, involving teachers, students, Ministry officials, community members, and various stakeholders. On WTD, the UNATU will pay homage to all teachers for their pivotal role in shaping children’s lives, for being change agents, and for providing the impetus for the emergence of educated communities. Celebrating teachers’ contributions to nation building is a key component of these events.
The CTF/FCE WTD award is named after Dr. Norman Goble, who served as the CTF/FCE Secretary General from 1970 to 1982, and the General Secretary of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession from 1982 to 1988. Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Goble is credited for his work to create WTD.
October 5 was selected as the date to celebrate teachers because on that same date in 1966, a special intergovernmental conference adopted the UNESCO recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. In adopting this recommendation, governments unanimously recognized the importance for society to have competent, qualified, and motivated teachers.
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation
Founded in 1920, the CTF/FCE is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations that represent over 365,000 teachers and education workers across Canada. The CTF/FCE is also an affiliate of Education International, which represents more than 32 million educators.
Media contact
Nika Quintao, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE)
[email protected]
Mobile : 613-606-7809
