World Day
Teachers honored by Unesco
In a school in Burkina Faso (illustrative image).
AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
This Wednesday, October 5, the whole world celebrates these women and men who fight every day to offer a better future to students.
World Teachers' Day, organized by Unesco, aims to raise awareness of the importance and role of teachers in the global education system.
Advertising
Read more
In Africa, several countries such as Cameroon or Uganda are planning festivities and a day off to highlight the dedication of these outstanding teachers.
Because it is through them that the “
transformation of education
” is possible, according to the theme chosen this year by Unesco.
But transforming is good, you still have to have the means.
His vocation as a teacher, Morris Ogwang, a math teacher in Kampala, Uganda, had the revelation almost by accident: “
At the age of 16, I lost my parents.
I had no other career choice.
In Uganda, the state pays you to become a teacher.
All you need is a degree.
So I chose that path.
We train you for free and then we hire you
.
»
Low salary
Over time, teaching became a passion, and this allowed him to ignore his low salary: “
In primary education, a teacher earns an average of 120 to 150 dollars each month.
This is little.
Still, I think it's worth being a teacher because when you see the difference you make in a child's life, it's priceless.
And positive feedback motivates you to work harder.
»
Salary problems, but also career development.
In Gabon, teachers have not been able to train for five years, due to the closure of the École Normale des Instructeurs (ENI).
It will reopen soon.
Serge Boussougou, a teacher at the establishment, hopes to receive more resources: "
We need to work under standard conditions, that is to say that the classrooms and amphitheatres are fully equipped, with all the tools necessary didactics
.
»
Despite the difficulties, Serge resists: "
Once we have embraced this noble profession of teacher, it is always possible to continue to discuss our profession, to value it, to give it the letters of nobility that belong to it.
".
A dream
This teaching profession has always been a dream for Kassadou Tiburce, an educational supervisor in Libreville.
First, teaching then inspector, this man, who has more than twenty years of experience, has chosen to train those who form the generation of tomorrow: "
I think that through such a day, it is truly a recognition for those who have made this choice, and then it is also a recognition to recognize that without a teacher there is no development, without training there is no development.
»
“
And for me
, says Kassadou Tiburce again,
what I have in mind, I look at different developments in the world: moving towards more digital, in schools, I tell myself that it's a good thing.
Because when we started, we had more difficulty producing our own sheets and everything else.
Now, it is already thought out in advance and there is now the Internet to be able to lighten the various interventions of teachers in establishments.
And I say that is a good thing
”.
►
To read also:
The challenges of the school year which begins in Niger
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Cameroon
Uganda
Gabon
Education
Education