By Prisca Adaeze Nenger

Kampala International University (KIU) on Friday, 5^th October celebrates World Teachers’ Day, 2018. The United Nations’ (UN) World Teachers’ Day also known as International Teachers Day, is held annually on the 5^th day of October to commemorate the work of teachers and their contributions to society.

World Teachers’ Day was first celebrated in 1994 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has been devoted to appreciating, assessing, and improving the educators of the world. Since then, the World Teachers’ Day has been a global event celebrated around the world after the UNESCO/ILO – International Labour Organization’s Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. It is co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, among others.

The theme for this year’s (2018) World Teachers’ Day is tagged “the right to education means the right to a qualified teacher,” which implies that the educational foundation of every child matters a lot, with the appropriate human technical resources on ground. Therefore, teachers must receive effective training and support that will equip them to respond to the needs of all students, including the most marginalized, being that education is a fundamental human right and a public good. This internationally recognized day commemorates teachers around the globe and their commitment to children and learning.

The Vice Chancellor, Dr. Mpezamihigo Mouhamad on this day, congratulates all the teachers in the world, as they produce all the professionals in all other disciplines, being that their contributions are fundamental in shaping the lives and dreams of these professional from childhood into adulthood, of which the University also benefits from the initial training passed on by teachers. He therefore appealed to members of the society and the world at large to be compassionate and contribute to the welfare and well-being of teachers who he identified as “custodians of knowledge and professional training for humanity,” adding that they are resilient, they deal with all characters, and they produce professionals for the nation.

World Teachers’ Day 2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which recognizes that education is a key fundamental right and establishes an entitlement to free compulsory education, ensuring inclusive and equitable access for all children. On this day, governments and the international community are reminded of the importance of safeguarding that right by investing in a strong teaching workforce, in order to ensure that all children are prepared to learn and take their place in society. The 2018 theme was chosen to remind the global community that the right to education cannot be achieved without the right to trained and qualified teachers.