UNGA President salutes teachers, tasks them on technology use

By Harrison Arubu

United Nations, Oct. 4, 2019

President of the UN General Assembly (PGA), Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, has urged professional teachers to leverage technology to raise the quality of teaching and learning.

The call came in a video message ahead of the 2019 World Teachers’ Day, which comes up on Saturday.

Muhammad-Bande, a professor of Political Science, noted that technology had provided opportunities for people to teach and learn faster, advising teachers not to be left behind.

“Today, more than ever before, there are opportunities for people to learn faster using different exciting platforms.

“I urge young professional teachers to use all the technologies available in delivering their lessons, in teachings and also in learning, because they must continue to learn.

“This is the exciting thing about teachers; every teacher is also a learner. That’s what makes the profession, and I am a teacher myself, such an exciting profession.”

The PGA congratulated and paid glowing tributes to teachers all over the world for “the great work they are doing for all of us’’.

Describing teaching as one of the noblest professions, Muhammad-Bande said no society could rise above the level of its educational system.

He added that the teacher was the most critical element of that system.

“The quality of the teacher is critical to what is delivered or not delivered in any educational system.

“In particular, I take this opportunity to congratulate and acknowledge the great work young professionals are doing as teachers.

“They are the future of the profession. They have taken on a very important task.

“A teacher, as we all know, is a mentor, is a comforter, is someone who helps with inquiry, is someone who inspires younger persons or even older persons.

“What is important is that the teacher is always there to do what is right and good for people.

“ On this World Teachers’ Day 2019, once again, I salute all teachers all over the world and in particular young professional teachers.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that quality education is one of the priorities of the incumbent PGA, who is Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

The World Teachers’ Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is observed annually on Oct. 5 to drive public understanding of teachers and the role they play in human and societal development.

It was established in 1994 also to commemorate the signing of the 1966 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation /International Labour Organisation Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers.

The document is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.