“Education is not filling a pot but the lighting of a fire,” said the great Irish litterateur WB Yeats. Yes, a good teacher drops a spark in everybody’s life which will be burning bright throughout the life span of a person in the form of knowledge, good character, personality, leadership etc. A teacher is a potter and an architect at the same time, a potter who moulds a good personality and an architect who design and help build a nation through his students.
Qatar, along with other countries, celebrated the World Teachers’ Day yesterday, honouring the immense contribution made by this noble profession of imparting knowledge to the leaders of tomorrow. The day held on October 5 every year, commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/Unesco recommendation concerning the status of teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.
This year, the celebrations revolve around the theme ‘Teachers at the Heart of Education Recovery’ as students and teachers around the world are gradually returning to the traditional face-to-face education system after a hiatus of almost two years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Qatar celebrated the World Teachers Day yesterday. On the occasion, Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Al Hammadi said that the celebration of World Teachers’ Day comes as an affirmation of the State of Qatar’s commitment to the right of its children to education, and the right of teachers to care and attention as guaranteed by the constitution and highlighted in Qatar National Vision 2030.
For Qatar, education is the most important element in the country’s march towards progress. Realising this long back, the country has been keen in developing the education sector, by providing the state-of-the art infrastructure facilities, adopting latest technological innovations and providing the teachers with all material and emotional support, training and motivation. Today, Qatar is home to several universities of world acclaim, especially Qatar University which is constantly improving its ranking in several global university indexes.
The Education Above All Foundation, through its Educate a Child and several other similar initiative has been relentlessly focusing on the education of the world’s marginalised children. The contributions being made by Qatar Fund For Development to the education sector also has been commendable. All these efforts are proof of Qatar’s efforts in realising the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal No. 4, which is aimed at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and Segment 4,C which targets to increase substantially the supply of qualified teachers by 2030.
Let us salute all those great teachers who dedicate their life to the service of humanity.
