By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Beyond classrooms and lesson plans, teachers’ welfare, dignity and professional standing remain central to questions about how far the profession has advanced six decades after international standards were established.
As the world marks World Teachers’ Day on Monday, October 5, 2026, teachers’ experiences across generations offer a window into how far the promise of protecting their profession has translated into reality.
In 1966, the ILO and UNESCO adopted the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, setting international standards on teachers’ status, recruitment, training, employment and working conditions.
The World Teachers’ Day was, therefore, established in 1994 to commemorate the recommendation.
The 2026 theme is “Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures.”
Speaking with PerSecondNews in an interview, Mrs Ala Muyiwa, a retired teacher, said the profession once carried a level of social recognition that made teaching a source of pride, despite the challenges educators faced.
“When I started teaching in 1991, people respected the teacher because they saw us as shaping the future of their children. There was a sense that teaching was an honourable profession,” she said.
Muyiwa said she hopes the profession will continue to evolve into one that does more than provide employment, but transforms lives and commands greater respect.
“Sixty years is not sixty day. I hope to see the teaching profession transform into something more than just an ordinary profession, but a life-changing one. Teachers are the bedrock of society,” she said.
She also called for greater attention to retired teachers, who she said had already given their productive years to educating generations of Nigerians.
“Retired teachers should also be well taken care of because they have served their time. After giving so much to society, they deserve to be respected and properly catered for.”
Looking back on the profession, Muyiwa said the status accorded teachers should reflect the responsibility placed on them to shape future generations.
“When you look at what teachers do, you realise that almost every profession passes through the hands of a teacher. That is why the profession should be held in high esteem.”
Also speaking with PerSecondNews, Mr Gideon Nehemiah, a public-school teacher, said the current picture also includes efforts by government to improve teachers’ welfare and the wider education system.
Nehemiah said the Education Minister, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, was making efforts to ensure teachers were better catered for, while reforms in the sector were helping to improve conditions.
“The Education Minister is doing a lot to make sure teachers are well catered for, and the reforms in the education sector are helping to improve the situation for teachers,” he told PerSecondNews.
Nehemiah said the continued implementation of the reforms could further strengthen the profession and improve conditions for teachers and learners.
“We need these reforms to continue because when teachers are supported, motivated and properly equipped, they are in a better position to give their best to the students,” he said.
The perspectives of the retired and serving teachers reflect both the concerns and changes surrounding the profession as Nigeria marks six decades since the international framework on teachers’ status.
The concerns also resonate with Oluwaseyi Anifowose, Guinness World Records holder for the largest gathering of teachers, who believes teachers have been neglected for too long.
Anifowose insisted that teaching is a profession deserving greater recognition and respect, while calling for government intervention on teachers’ welfare.
“Teachers have been neglected for too long. It is a profession that requires that we applaud and respect those who are in it,” he said.
He questioned why teachers’ welfare remains an unresolved issue six decades after the international framework on their professional status.
“Sixty years on, we are still talking about the welfare of teachers. Government needs to intervene.”
Anifowose also linked teachers’ wellbeing directly to the quality of education and the emotional stability of students.
“Emotionally unstable teachers cannot give us emotionally stable students. So when we have teachers that are fine, happy, then that translates into better learning outcomes,” he told PSN.
The three perspectives raise a common question: after 60 years of efforts to protect and advance the teaching profession, how much has changed for Nigerian teachers?
Beyond annual celebrations and proposed reforms, teachers measure their profession by three essentials: dignity, support, and lasting purpose.
This World Teachers’ Day, their perspectives highlight what it actually takes to value and support those shaping tomorrow’s society.
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