Global Campaign for Education: Why Focus on Teachers in 2006?

This year is our opportunity to continue demanding that politicians and officials keep pledges made to ensure that every child is not only able to go to school, but is also taught by a well-qualified teacher in a class no bigger than 40 pupils.

• Without quality teachers there will be no Education For All. Teachers play a pivotal role in education reforms and systems
  
• Teacher salaries make up the biggest part of national expenditure on education and are therefore critical within the EFA financing gap
  
• Teachers are under pressure: rising enrollments, pressure from HIV/AIDS, low salaries and poor living conditions. Poor conditions have an especially negative impact on female teachers
  
• Good teachers, especially female teachers, are particularly important for helping girls stay in school
  
• Many countries hire teachers who are not trained, or who are poorly trained, as a cost-saving strategy. This has an impact on levels of quality, especially in poorer areas.
  
• Teachers need training to sensitise them to learners' diverse needs, and teacher recruitment needs to ensure women and teachers from ethnic and other minorities are adequately represented.