Every Child Needs a Teacher

"Every Child Needs a Teacher" is, as the title implies, based on the strategy of building the capacity of teachers - through interpersonal interaction (education and training) - to provide high-quality education to students. The idea is that achieving universal education goals requires not merely ensuring that every child is able to go to school but, in addition, meeting 3 interrelated needs: enough teachers (1 teacher for, at most, 40 students), professionally trained, adequately paid, and well-motivated teachers, and sufficient financing for the expansion of education systems. In short, this campaign seeks to call attention to and inspire action around the significance of the relationship between student and teacher - and the quality of the communication and knowledge exchange characteristic of that relationship - in the context of universal education benchmarks.

At the national level, the organisers envision 3 stages as part of their advocacy approach, which emphasises the participation of community members of all ages:

1. Creating a dossier to make "the case for teachers": Children, adult learners, teachers and campaigners will gather "evidence" that supports the argument that high-quality teachers are crucial. Among the types of evidence that may make up the dossier/briefcase/album are: Paper cut-out "teachers", with messages such as "please send a teacher to school" or "send my friend a teacher"; pictures of classrooms or of children and teachers out-of-school because of the lack of teachers; or personal testimonials of the impact that high-quality teachers have had, or of the detrimental impact due to a lack of teachers. Those submitting these testimonials are encouraged to use drama, stories, songs or pictures to convey the message.
2. Discussing the dossiers on "Officials Back to School Day": Officials, political figures and celebrities will be invited to schools and adult learning centres to report back on progress made on previous pledges and to be presented with the Case for Teachers (the evidence that has been collected in the dossiers). They will be asked to commit to taking action to send teachers to school.
3. Engaging members of the public in "The Big Hearing": Based on the style of court hearings, or pubic enquiries, the big hearing will be relevant to the national context. Some countries will put politicians and officials on trial to assess the progress they have made on their commitments to ensure all children have a free quality education. In other countries the case for teachers will be presented to officials, after which they will be asked to take action.

GCE is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to share information about this Action Week and to inspire participation. The Action Week 2006 page on the GCE website offers campaigners free-to-download materials in English, French, and Spanish, such as a Planning Pack, Update Information for Coalitions, Country Updates (including contact names and email addresses), and Campaign Materials (posters, leaflets and stickers).

Education

According to the GCE, the United Nations estimates that at least 15 million more teachers are needed to meet MDG #2. Yet GCE claims that many low-income countries attempt to save money by hiring teachers with little training, and pay them poorly. Teachers are under pressure, coping with enormous classes, poor living and working conditions; furthermore, many are affected by HIV/AIDS. For instance, according to GCE, in Zambia, there are an average of 64 pupils to every primary teacher, and in Uganda, 50% of primary teachers have no formal training.

As part of this Action Week, GCE asks economically rich countries to: increase aid and cancel debt, support countries' long-term education plans including teacher salaries, and end donor conditions that prevent countries from employing sufficient numbers of professional teachers. It asks that economically poor countries: increase public spending on education, ensure quality teaching by training teachers to a professional standard, pay teachers a living wage and give them a say in education policy-making, and reduce class sizes and improve classroom conditions.