It is often said that teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible. Doctors, engineers, writers, leaders—all once sat before a teacher who believed in them. Yet too often, teachers carry this immense responsibility with too little recognition and support.

Today, Oct. 5, the world pauses to honor a profession that quietly but powerfully shapes the future – teaching.

World Teachers’ Day, celebrated since 1994, marks the anniversary of the 1966 International Labour Organization (ILO)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendation on the status of teachers, a landmark document that defined teachers’ rights, responsibilities, and professional standards. Today, nearly six decades later, its message rings with urgency: teachers remain the backbone of education, and their role is more critical than ever.

Teachers do more than deliver lessons. They shape minds, inspire curiosity, instill discipline, and nurture compassion. In their classrooms, values are modeled as much as knowledge is taught. Every lesson becomes a seed planted—not just for careers, but for citizenship, character, and community. In this way, teachers are both builders of intellect and guardians of society’s moral compass.

Yet, even as their contributions grow in importance, the teaching profession is facing a global crisis. UNESCO’s Global Report on Teachers warns that the world needs 44 million more teachers if universal primary and secondary education is to be achieved by 2030. Yet, in just seven years, the number of teachers leaving the profession has doubled. The reasons are familiar—low pay, heavy workloads, and working conditions that isolate teachers instead of empowering them.

This year’s theme, “Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession,” challenges us to see teachers not as solitary figures in their classrooms, but as part of a collective force for education. Collaboration among teachers—through mentoring, co-teaching, peer learning, and even digital platforms—can transform both the profession and the learning experience. When teachers share expertise, they strengthen not only themselves but the entire system. When their voices are included in school leadership and policy-making, reforms become more grounded in classroom realities.

The call to collaboration is more than a professional adjustment; it is a moral imperative. For teachers to shape resilient and inclusive societies, they must themselves be supported by inclusive, equitable, and respectful environments. Governments, institutions, and communities must invest not only in recruiting more teachers but also in ensuring that their profession is one of dignity, trust, and shared growth.

The joint statement made by the agencies leading the celebration says: "On this World Teachers’ Day, UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF and Education International call on governments, partners and the international community to make a collective commitment to ensuring that collaboration is recognized as a norm within the teaching profession – because it is only through effective cooperation at all levels that we can build truly inclusive, equitable and resilient education systems worldwide." World Teachers’ Day is co-convened in partnership with the ILO, UNICEF and Education International (EI).

In the Philippines, activities to honor teachers started on Sept. 5, for National Teachers Month which culminates with the holding of the National Teachers Day. The Department of Education and Culture (DepEd), the lead agency, has focused on the theme “Teachers 4 Teachers.” Tomorrow, Oct. 6, at least 12,000 teachers in Luzon will gather for the celebration that honors their dedication and service.

Today, let us not only pay tribute to their individual sacrifices but also commit to systemic change: better policies, stronger collaboration, and lasting respect for those who shape our future one lesson at a time.

Let us remember that honoring teachers is not a one-day celebration. It is a year-round responsibility to safeguard their place at the heart of education—and, by extension, at the heart of society itself.