WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY
Most of you have not been to school for a very long time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic but you have been following classes online. To prepare your lessons, your teachers are working very hard, even though they are teaching from their homes. Therefore, the contribution made by teachers during this time of crisis is very important. The theme of World Teachers’ Day 2021 is “Teachers: Leading in crisis, re-imagining the future.” This theme was presented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize the strongminded and hardworking teachers who did not give up their efforts to provide a good education for the future generation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teachers influence our lives and impart knowledge, values and wisdom, while making us better human-beings. They are very important people in our lives. Almost everybody has a favourite teacher, someone who encouraged you because they could see your talents. To honour teachers all over the world, October 5th was declared as World Teachers’ Day. This was a result of a global event launched by UNESCO, which focused on the status of teachers. World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated annually on October 5th, since 1994. World Teachers’ Day also focuses on areas such as the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and the problems they face, in addition to providing them with further education, recruitment, employment, and suitable teaching conditions. This Day is celebrated to show our teachers that we are thankful to them for teaching us and that we appreciate them for everything they do.
Even though you are unable to meet your teachers as schools are closed, let’s look at some ways in which you can surprise and honour your teachers and say ‘Thank You’ to them, by using the virtual platform, on World Teachers’ Day.
• You can surprise your teacher with a special ‘Thank You’ card made by you. You could even make a special craft for your teacher. Since you are unable to give these to your teacher, ask your parents to take a photograph of your card or the craft and email it or send it by Whatsapp to your teacher.
• You can send your teacher a poem or an essay written by you, or a drawing done by you, to say ‘Thank You.’
• You could write an email or send a message through the phone (sms) to your teacher to say how much you appreciate him/her.
• If you have an online class on World Teachers’ Day, you could get together with your friends and make a small speech and maybe, sing a song or recite a poem, to appreciate and thank your teacher, before he/she begins the lesson.
• Discuss with your classmates, and on World Teachers’ Day, all of you can wear a home-made head-band saying ‘Thank You Teacher’ or ‘Thank You to my wonderful teacher.’
• You can make a banner saying ‘Thank You’ to your teacher, and hang it behind you, so that when you put the video on while you are in the online class, your teacher will see it. Similarly all the students in your class can do the same thing. I am sure that when your teacher sees all these banners he/she will feel appreciated.