In a village classroom, one teacher instructs dozens of pupils squeezed onto shared benches. If she leaves, the school closes. Every 5 October, World Teachers' Day recalls what UNESCO has put in figures: for every child to be in school by 2030, forty-four million more teachers remain to be recruited. President Macky Sall places that need among the commitments of his candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General.
A shortage that hits sub-Saharan Africa first. The region lacks more teachers than any other, and its school-age population is growing fastest. Classes swell before the posts exist.
A profession people leave. Low pay, sometimes paid late, overcrowded classes, short initial training: teachers move to other jobs, and newcomers do not replace those who go.
Train, pay, recognize. Three levers hold the profession together. Good initial and in-service training, a salary paid on a fixed date, a status that opens a career. Digital tools come afterwards: they spare the teacher some tasks without taking her place in front of the pupils.
From summit to classroom. The Secretary-General convened the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. His successor will have to turn those pledges into filled posts and paid salaries, country by country, with a public tracker.
An investment that pays late. Twelve years as head of state teach the patience that schooling demands: what is planted today is harvested in a generation. The vision statement filed with the United Nations treats education as the first item of prevention spending.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
UNESCO's global report on teachers (2024) and the Transforming Education Summit (2022) are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net