10/05/2022
On 5 October, World Teachers’ Day, Education International and its member organisations pay tribute to teachers, education support personnel and union members lost to COVID-19, reminding the world’s governments of their responsibilities to ensure safe working conditions and vaccine equity.
“Together we honour the teachers we have lost during the COVID pandemic, celebrate their lives and legacy, and recommit to making safe working conditions and vaccine equity a reality for all across the globe,” said David Edwards, Education International’s General Secretary, while opening the global tribute event.
Adding that as Education International and its members take part in events all week to commemorate World Teachers’ Day under the UNESCO, ILO and UNICEF theme - Teachers at the Heart of Educational Recovery, he explained that Education international “felt that in addition to these events and as the news poured in over these last 18 months of the steady and increasing losses in one and then another country, we needed to pause as these are not numbers, they are human beings who lost their lives in service to their students and colleagues doing that which mattered most.”
Paying tribute by continuing to fight for better, safer and more dignified conditions
Edwards explained that: “We pay tribute to them by continuing to fight for better, safer and more dignified conditions that benefit the people who teach the future. We pay tribute to their legacy as part of this whole which truly is greater than the sum of its individual parts.”
“As teachers we bear a great responsibility,” he also highlighted. “Our work is helping children learn and grown and reach their full potential. We are friends, allies, and mentors with great influence over young minds. The bonds we build in our classrooms often last a lifetime. This is why the loss of so many teachers is especially heart-breaking for students. As we mourn the loss of so many educators, we can find comfort in the fact that their spirit lives on in all the students they taught, motivated, and inspired along their careers.”
Edwards reiterated Education International’s demand to vaccinate all teachers and regretted that many colleagues are teaching under difficult and unsafe conditions.
To honor colleagues around the world, Education International launched a memorial website – www.teachercovidmemorial.org, gathering profiles from teachers and school staff who have died during the COVID pandemic. Each one represents an incredible loss to their families, our schools, and our communities.
