World Teachers' Day 2021 Date: When and Why It is Celebrated

World Teachers' Day is celebrated annually on 5 October.

World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on 5 October

(Photo: The Quint)

World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on 5 October. This day is observed to recognize the rights and responsibilities of teachers and to focus on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 5 October to be World Teachers’ Day in 1994. The day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. It was adopted in a special intergovernmental conference convened by UNESCO in cooperation with the ILO, in Paris.

"This recommendation sets forth the rights and responsibilities of teachers as well as international standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, teaching and learning conditions," reads the official website of UNESCO.

This adoption was followed by the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel by the UNESCO General Conference in 1997.

These recommendations are considered an important set of guidelines to promote teachers’ status in the interest of quality education.

World Teachers' Day is celebrated to mark progress and reflect on ways to counter the challenges for the promotion of the teaching profession.