As the number of teachers grows to meet rising demands globally, it is critical that conditions for teachers to collaborate improve in tandem. Collaboration is a vital aspect of the teaching profession and must be reinforced throughout the entire duration of one’s career, ranging from initial training to continuous professional development. 

The new fact sheet published by the Teacher Task Force and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) for the 2025 World Teachers’ Day, utilizes new data to address opportunities for advancement in continuous professional development (CPD) and collaboration among teachers. 

How has the number of teachers in the workforce expanded globally in recent years? 

One of the greatest challenges associated with the teaching profession is the global shortage of teachers: approximately 44 million primary and secondary teachers are needed to ensure equitable education for all (Teacher Task Force & UNESCO, 2024). While we are still far away from reaching this goal, there has been positive expansion in the number of teachers worldwide. 

The pre-primary level has experienced a nearly three-fold increase in the quantity of teachers, rising from 55 million in 2000 to 138 million in 2024. Secondary teachers have seen the greatest absolute growth from 25.4 million to 41.8 million, and the tertiary teacher workforce has more than doubled from 7 million to 14.5 million.  

While it is encouraging to see such significant expansion, these numbers do not necessarily close the gap between teachers and students in classrooms. Student enrolment levels have often outpaced the growth of teachers, and the increase in the number of teachers does not necessarily equate to more teachers with comprehensive training and qualifications. 

How have trends in teacher qualification and training shifted in various regions? 

Although the global share of qualified teachers remains high (about 90%), the proportion of trained teachers has in fact declined slightly across all education levels. Qualified teachers refer to those who hold the highest level of academic qualification required for teaching, whereas trained teachers are those who have completed pedagogical preparation. Many regions need a renewed investment in teacher development to reverse the erosion in training and qualifications. 

• Sub-Saharan Africa: Pre-primary education saw a modest increase in trained teachers from 55% to 58%, but both primary and secondary levels experienced sharp declines in qualified and trained teachers. 
• Northern Africa and Western Asia: The qualified and trained teacher rates significantly decreased from 93% to 81% of qualified primary teachers and 94% to 79% of trained primary teachers. 
• Latin America and the Caribbean: An equally concerning decline in teacher qualifications occurred at the primary level (78% to 75%), as well as a notable drop in training across primary and secondary levels. 
• Europe and Northern America: Consistently high levels of qualified teachers have been maintained at the primary level (93% to 94%), but there has been slight stagnation at the secondary level and a notable decline in the share of trained teachers across all levels. 
• Eastern and South-Eastern Asia: Steady gains have allowed for the region to hold some of the world’s highest levels of qualified teachers (95% to 98%) and steady gains in trained teachers. 
• Central and Southern Asia: The past two decades have shown consistent progress in strengthening the teacher workforce at the foundational level with increases across the board. 

What patterns have emerged in the gender composition of the teaching workforce, and what implications does that have on communities? 

Based on data from the gender composition of the teaching workforce, two patterns have emerged. First, women tend to dominate the teaching force across the world. Second, the proportion of female teachers declines from pre-primary to secondary levels of education. At the primary level, about 8 or 9 out of every 10 qualified teachers are women (except in sub-Saharan Africa); however, this declines at the secondary level, where only 56% to 74% of teachers are women. 

This has considerable implications for the role models that students encounter, the livelihoods of teachers in communities, and the perspectives that are included in classrooms, schools, curricula, and policies.  

What percentage of countries mandate continuous professional development for teachers? 

According to UIS data, 83% of primary school teachers reported receiving in-service training in the last 12 months, yet this high number does not necessarily reflect the type or quality of CPD. Only 14% of low-income countries require CPD, compared to 73% of high-income countries, highlighting a policy and capacity gap that may contribute to uneven access to opportunities for collaboration. 

With CPD comes the need to further incorporate collaboration among teachers through initiatives such as team teaching, joint activities across classes, classroom observation with feedback, and collaborative professional learning. These opportunities are effective in engaging different forms of CPD yet are not as widely implemented.  

Moving forward, it would be advantageous to establish new indicators on the teaching profession, extending beyond measuring teacher training and qualifications to include teachers’ status, career pathways, profession development, working conditions, and voice and participation in decision-making. Such measures will present a crucial path forward in supporting teacher collaboration on a global scale and making informed decisions about how to advance the work, impact, and experiences of teachers.  

How do these trends affect the inherently collaborative nature of teaching practices? 

Teacher collaboration is the cornerstone of professional growth and quality education, yet a decrease in the number of trained and qualified teachers in combination with a lack of CPD among low- and lower-middle-income countries stifles opportunities for teachers to collectively work together.  

Results from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that only 40% of secondary teachers receive induction and 22% are assigned mentors, both of which are essential aspects collaboration. Without proper induction or mentorship, teachers are less supported by their professional network, therefore potentially less motivated and committed to connect with other colleagues or even stay in the teaching profession. Collaborative practices enhance teachers’ working conditions overall, so it is essential that greater efforts are made to advocate for this. 

Read more:  

• New fact sheet published by the Teacher Task Force and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) 
• Event page of the 2025 World Teachers’ Day 

Promoting and protecting teacher agency in the age of artificial intelligence, a new position paper produced by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF), aims to shed light on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in reshaping the education landscape while maintaining teachers’ agency, dignity, and professional autonomy.  

To ensure the position paper reflected the multiple and diverse perspectives of the TTF membership, it underwent several rounds of consultation with actors from different backgrounds. Feedback was collected through written surveys and direct comments on the draft, in-person exchanges at the Global Teacher Campus workshop during the Global Education Coalition Annual Meeting, and an online consultation led by the TTF’s Digital and AI Thematic Group, co-led by MESHGuides and Digital Promise. This inclusive process and the combined guidance of the thematic group co-leads and the TTF Secretariat played an instrumental role in providing concrete insights for the development of the paper. 

What are the key findings regarding AI in the teaching profession? 

AI offers both significant opportunities and complex challenges for education systems worldwide, and as its development is rapidly accelerating, it is important to move the discourse beyond polarizing narratives of dystopian fears and utopian promises. AI can support teachers in planning, assessment, and inclusive education, but without proper training, ethical safeguards, and systemic support, its benefits might become risks. Ultimately, AI should enhance the teaching profession and not replace it, as teaching remains a deeply human act rooted in empathy, judgement, and relationship that AI cannot replicate.  

What are AI’s implications for teachers? 

The relationship between AI and teachers can be reduced to three categories: teaching with AI, teaching about AI, and adapting teaching to a world where AI is ubiquitous. Teaching with AI has shown to be beneficial for teachers, allowing them to provide personalized learning experiences and improve students’ learning outcomes, as well as reducing workloads and supporting creative processes; however, the evidence base is still weak. As AI permeates society, it is crucial to emphasize the irreplaceability of teachers and that AI is not a substitute for teachers but a powerful augmentative tool. Teachers need to be equipped with the skills, ethical awareness and agency to shape how and when AI is integrated into the classroom. 

How are teachers using AI? 

AI is capable of counteracting resource shortages, allowing overburdened teachers in underserved areas to continue providing instructional support. This includes using tools that support special education needs, as well as translation and content generation in local languages. At the same time, teachers also use AI as a functional aid for generating personalized feedback and automating routine tasks, such as grading, planning, and content delivery. However, these applications remain largely functional and focused on automating tasks, rather than driving deeper pedagogical transformation. 

What are the benefits of AI for teachers? 

 When integrated thoughtfully, AI can: 

• Free up time from routine tasks, allowing teachers to focus more on pedagogy, student engagement, and wellbeing. 
• Provide real-time insights into student progress and familiarize teachers with their needs. 
• Generate high-quality resources and adaptive learning materials. 
• Support inclusive education for learners with disabilities or language barriers through multimodal formats. 
• Strengthen subject-specific teaching (e.g. STEM) through simulations, virtual labs, and adaptive tools. 

What risks does AI pose for teachers? 

While AI offers opportunities, it also brings important risks. The most pressing ones include: 

• Contribute to the de-professionalization of teaching, as teachers risk losing essential skills if tasks such as lesson planning or providing feedback are increasingly outsourced to AI. 
• Undermine teachers’ professional autonomy when standardized AI protocols are prioritized over their creativity, judgment, and contextual knowledge. 
• Enable increased surveillance and misuse of data, with performance monitoring applied in punitive rather than supportive ways. 
• Weaken the human dimension of education, as overreliance on AI risks devaluing teacher–student relationships and the development of social and emotional skills. 
• Drive harmful standardization, sidelining diversity, local knowledge, and cultural responsiveness in teaching and learning. 
• Deepen digital divides, leaving behind teachers who lack the infrastructure, training, or equitable access needed to benefit from AI. 

What are the key recommendations for using AI in classrooms? 

Implementing AI in classrooms requires strategic navigation. Recommendations include: 

1. Reaffirm the irreplaceable role of teachers in education: Governments and education stakeholders must commit unequivocally to the irreplaceability of teachers, emphasizing that AI systems must support, not substitute, core teacher responsibilities. 
2. Promote and protect teachers’ professional competencies: Policies must encourage models of AI implementation that promote and protect teachers’ professional competencies while supporting teacher collaboration and innovation through professional networks and communities of practice. 
3. Evaluate AI’s impact and promote human-centred pedagogies: AI should not automate poor practices of education, but encourage innovative pedagogies, emphasising human-centred approaches. 
4. Safeguard diversity and prevent AI from standardising education: Education standards must require AI tools to be culturally responsive and adaptable while supporting diverse education needs. 
5. Promote transparent, sustainable, and ethical AI governance: Education policymakers should enforce clear ethical standards and transparency in AI technologies deployed in schools, ensuring that teachers fully understand AI decision-making processes and implications. 
6. Ensure equitable access and prevent AI-driven educational inequality: To avoid exacerbating existing disparities, policies must aim to bridge the digital divide by investing in technological infrastructure, tailored digital literacy programmes, and equitable resource distribution across the globe. 
7. Promote international cooperation and solidarity: Leveraging AI in education and filling the digital divide requires cooperation from global networks, including the Education 2030 SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee, TTF, the Global Education Coalition, and Borad Band Commission.  

Policymakers, education leaders, teacher unions, and other stakeholders are urged to reaffirm the invaluable role of teachers in education when engaging with the development of AI. Continuing to promote teachers’ professional competencies is of the upmost importance, which can be achieved through implementing comprehensive AI competency frameworks, supporting teacher collaboration via professional network, and promoting human-centred pedagogies. Above all, AI usage must be transparent, sustainable, ethical, and equitable.  

Read more: 

• Promoting and protecting teacher agency in the age of artificial intelligence - Teacher Task Force position paper 
• Teacher Task Force thematic groups 

This blog has been co-authored by Eliane El Haber, Maximiliano Andrade Reyes, Ilan Enverga, Roberto Hernández Juárez, SDG4 Youth & Student Network.

The recently adopted Santiago Consensus, outcome of the World Summit on Teachers in Chile (August 2025), calls the global community to action: to reverse the teacher shortage and to transform teaching into a profession that is fully respected, supported, and empowered.

The Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers estimates that the world will need an additional 44 million teachers by 2030 to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). The teacher shortage is not just a statistic; it is our classrooms, our peers, our dignity and our futures. As young people, students, and future teachers, we welcome this landmark consensus, but we also see its urgency. That is why we, the SDG4 Youth & Student Network, are proud to have been proud of shaping this consensus through its consultation progress, and are adding our voices to amplify this call.

Financing: Turning Commitments into Reality

No consensus will succeed without financing. The Santiago Consensus emphasizes the need for sustainable, transparent, and equitable financing strategies to support the teaching profession. We could not agree more.

For young people and students, financing is not an abstract concept. It is the difference between overcrowded classrooms and spaces where teachers can provide individual support. It is the difference between teachers leaving the profession due to poor pay, and teachers staying because they feel valued. Financing means salaries that reflect teachers’ worth, safe workplaces, and professional development opportunities.

We join the #FundEducation campaign of the SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee and welcome the Consensus’s strong commitment to uphold international benchmarks for education financing and to explore innovative mechanisms without compromising education as a public good. Public–private partnerships and triangular cooperation can play a catalytic role if designed responsibly, helping expand resources for teacher training and professional development while safeguarding education as a right and a public good. Teachers are not a cost to be minimized; they are the best investment we can make for our societies.

Capacity Building: Supporting Teachers as Lifelong Learners

Teachers, like students, deserve opportunities to grow. The Santiago Consensus calls for teacher education and professional development to be seen as a lifelong journey. This is especially relevant in today’s fast-changing world, where teachers are asked to navigate digital transformation, climate change, and shifting societal expectations.

Capacity building must go beyond technical training. It should recognize teachers in all modalities, including early childhood educators, adult learning facilitators, and TVET instructors, and provide clear pathways for growth and recognition. Importantly, it should also include youth and students, preparing us to step into the teaching profession with confidence, agency, and resilience.

Higher education institutions also have a vital role here. As incubators of teacher training, centers of research, universities and colleges can strengthen bridges between theory and practice, ensuring that teacher preparation evolves with the needs of learners and societies. Furthermore, as artificial intelligence (AI)  and digital tools reshape education, teachers need training to integrate AI responsibly and effectively, ensuring it does not replace human interaction and learning.

Social and Emotional Learning: Teachers at the Heart of Well-being

The global education community often focuses on learning outcomes, but we must not forget the outcomes that matter most to young people and students: feeling safe, supported, and inspired in our learning environments. Teachers are central to this.

The Santiago Consensus highlights the role of teachers in promoting sustainable development, gender equality, and global citizenship. We add another essential dimension: social and emotional learning. Teachers nurture empathy, resilience, and critical thinking. They provide a sense of stability in times of crisis. And they show us, through their care and commitment, how to live together in healthy, inclusive societies. Teachers who are supported in these areas help young people become not only informed citizens but also empathetic leaders.

By prioritizing social and emotional learning, teachers equip students with resilience and empathy, enabling them to navigate crises, uncertainty, and rapid societal changes.

For this reason, investing in teachers is also investing in mental health and well-being. It ensures that classrooms remain spaces of belonging, trust, and growth.

Monitoring and Cooperation: From Words to Measurable Progress

The Santiago Consensus is rich with commitments. But young people and students know too well that commitments without monitoring can fade away. We echo the call for robust teacher management and information systems, for better data collection, and for regular reporting to UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS).

Monitoring is not only about accountability; it is also about learning. It allows us to see what works, share promising practices, and adjust strategies to ensure that teachers are not left behind. In line with the spirit of the Santiago Consensus, monitoring must create spaces for civil society, youth, and students to participate, fostering transparency, accountability, and shared responsibility in advancing SDG4.

We also see South–South and triangular cooperation as vital tools. Through these partnerships, countries can exchange models of teacher training, learn from each other’s experiences, and build solidarity across regions facing similar challenges. By strengthening collaboration, especially across the Global South, we can accelerate progress and ensure that no country - and no teacher - is left behind.

Youth and Students: Partners, Not Bystanders

One of the strongest affirmations in the Santiago Consensus is the recognition of young people as essential stakeholders in solving the teacher shortage. The outcome document states:

“We affirm that young people, who represent a large proportion of current learners and the very sources of future teaching personnel, must be recognized as essential stakeholders in addressing the global teacher shortage. Their perspectives, innovations, and leadership are critical to reimagining the teaching profession and ensuring it meets the evolving needs of society.”

As such, our voices must be included in teacher policy dialogues, social dialogue platforms, and decision-making spaces. We bring innovative ideas, digital skills and perspectives grounded in today’s realities that can complement the wisdom of experienced educators.

The SDG4 Youth & Student Network has already demonstrated the power of youth engagement in education policymaking. We believe this must now extend to the teaching profession itself. Supporting youth voice and youth-led initiatives to promote teaching as a viable and rewarding career is not optional; it is necessary.

We also recall the United Nations Youth Declaration on Transforming Education, which was shaped by nearly half a million young people worldwide. Articles 18 and 19 of this milestone declaration directly call for systemic changes to support the teaching profession.

Welcoming the Call to Action

The Santiago Consensus is not just another declaration. It is a powerful call to action from governments, teachers, unions, civil society, international organizations and young people to transform the teaching profession. 

For youth and students, the Consensus is not a set of abstract policy points. These are commitments to ensure a better future and to transform the lives of billions of children and youth who entrust their future and education to these consensuses. That is why the call to action must be accompanied by real commitments from the actors in education. 

The call to action from Santiago is clear, and we proudly repeat it: the world needs teachers, and teachers need the world to support them. Without teachers, it becomes impossible to improve the lives of societies worldwide, especially young and future generations.

Through diplomacy and dialogue that cross generations, sectors and states, we can realize the calls of the Santiago Consensus.  Our role, as youth, is to amplify it and to work in partnership with decision-makers to turn these commitments into action with the unwavering hope and fiery energy characteristic to today’s youth. 

As the outstanding teacher and Chilean Nobel Prize in Literature winner Gabriela Mistral said: "To light lamps, you must carry fire in your heart." Our collective effort to realize the Santiago Consensus will allow billions of lamps to be illuminated because we have the fire in our hearts.

Learn more

• Read the Santiago Consensus
• Find out more about the SDG4 Youth & Student Network

Photo credit: Ministry of Education, Chile
Caption: Ellen DIxon, SDG4 Youth & Student Network, intervention during the plenary session on Teacher Policies to Address Teacher Shortages and Improve Working Conditions, World Summit on Teachers, Santiago de Chile, 28 August 2025.

Education stakeholders from around the world gathered for the World Summit on Teachers in Santiago de Chile to address the global challenge of teacher shortages and advocate for the sustained support for teachers through global action, financing and policy alignment, especially in the midst of a rapidly changing digital era. 

The World Summit on Teachers took place from 28 to 29 August 2025 in Santiago de Chile in conjunction with the SDG4 Education 2030-High Level Steering Committee’s Leaders Meeting. Organized by UNESCO and the Government of Chile, the event hosted participants from across the globe and culminated in the adoption of the Santiago Consensus, highlighting the irreplaceability of teachers and urgent call for revalorizing the profession. The Teacher Task Force played an instrumental role in the Summit, through consulting its network on the Santiago Consensus, as well as the active participation of Secretariat staff, network members and Steering Committee representatives.

The Santiago Consensus 

After two days of engaging and thought-provoking dialogue, the Summit concluded with the delivery of the Santiago Consensus, which underlines the indispensable role of teachers as the cornerstone of education. Developed through a consultative process involving the Teacher Task Force network, the consensus calls for strengthening comprehensive national teacher policies, advancing continuous professional development, encouraging the inclusion of teachers in policymaking, mobilizing education funding, and boosting digital and AI competencies. Central to these commitments is imperative to uphold strategies that reaffirm inclusion, equity, and gender equality in all facets of education. 

Launch of the costing and financing background paper 

A crucial moment at the Summit was the launch of the new Teacher Task Force and UNESCO background paper, Costing and financing the teaching profession: a strategic investment in education. Through examining a myriad of global data and country case studies, the paper highlights the essential role of domestic resource mobilization, the risk of overreliance on external and short-term funding, and the potential of progressive fiscal reforms to secure sustainable investment in teachers. 

Sessions led by the Teacher Task Force

Two of the thematic sessions at the Summit were moderated by Teacher Task Force representatives: Examining the Impact of AI on Teacher Development and Pedagogical Practices and Financing the teaching profession. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a key theme of the Summit, and Erin Chemery, member of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat, chaired a discussion about the dual impact of AI on teacher development and pedagogical practices. Though the benefits of supporting teachers in lesson planning, feedback, multilingual instruction, and personalization stand as compelling rationales for its integration, leaders in education have raised critical questions about AI’s potential to erode, rather than enhance, teacher professionalism, pedagogical autonomy, and human connection. 

In a later session of the Summit, Carlos Vargas, Head of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat, orchestrated a conversation about financing the teacher profession. Sustainable teacher financing builds quality, equity, and resilience in education systems, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Many of the major costs come from employing teachers, such as salaries, recruitment, professional development, deployment, and working conditions. The 2024 TTF & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers found that the need for 44 million primary and secondary teachers comes at a cost of US$120 billion. The session further emphasized the need for governments and partners to improve education financing through better planning and innovative mechanisms. 

While the Summit has come to a close, there is still more work to do. Looking ahead, the Teacher Task Force will continue supporting countries in implementing the recommendations from the Santiago Consensus, as well as providing guidance on teacher policies that strengthen the profession globally. Overarching messages from the Consensus will pave the way for future efforts and initiatives, all following the same theme: we must invest in teachers now more than ever. 

Useful links

• Teacher Task Force & UNESCO background paper Costing and financing the teaching profession: a strategic investment in education
• Summary of key messages of the paper
• World Summit on Teachers event page
• 2024 TTF & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers

Photo credit: UNESCO

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes classrooms around the world, a new position paper champions a simple but powerful principle: teachers, not technology, must lead this transformation. Launched by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF) during UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week, the position paper highlights how AI can be a powerful ally for teachers when guided by sound policy, ethical principles, and well-designed professional learning.

The paper, Promoting and Protecting Teacher Agency in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, emphasises that teachers must remain at the heart of education and of the emerging technologies influencing its future. It sets out how AI can ease administrative burdens, provide new teaching resources in multiple languages, support inclusive education, and help tailor learning to students’ needs if steered by teachers themselves. It calls for promoting human-centered pedagogies and safeguarding diversity by valuing teachers’ voices. Crucially, it also highlights the need to invest in teacher competencies so that educators can engage with AI critically and confidently to shape the future of learning.

“Teachers are the real drivers of innovation in education. AI can support them by creating more time for meaningful interactions with learners and by expanding access to quality resources. But it is teachers’ judgment, creativity, and empathy that nurture the relationships on which learning depends,” noted April Williamson, Director, Global Projects, at Digital Promise.

The paper also showcases emerging practices that demonstrate how AI can benefit teachers and students alike. For example, AI-powered tools are helping teachers to develop lesson plans aligned with national curricula, provide personalised feedback to learners, and translate materials into local languages to reduce barriers for second-language speakers. In contexts where there are severe teacher shortages, AI can also offer supplementary support to both teachers in the classroom and students while reinforcing, rather than replacing, the central role of qualified teachers.

The position paper reflects the shared perspectives of TTF members – policymakers, practitioners, and civil society – working across diverse global contexts. It was developed through a consultative process with the new TTF thematic group on Digital Education and AI, established in early 2025. The drafting process was led by Mutlu Cukurova, who prepared an initial version presented during a consultation webinar. Group members then enriched the draft through live discussions and written feedback, ensuring that the final paper carried the shared voice of the TTF. It emphasized the need both to mitigate risks to teachers and to strengthen their critical role in preparing the next generation to use AI safely and effectively.

The position paper was launched at Digital Learning Week at UNESCO in Paris and brought together educators and researchers from all regions to share concrete experiences. These ranged from frameworks that guide teachers in reviewing AI-generated feedback, to co-created tools that help students better define their learning needs, to large-scale programmes showing how generative AI can reduce teacher workload while strengthening inclusion in teaching practices.

“Placing teachers at the centre of AI development and adoption is not just the right thing to do, it is the only way to ensure that technology genuinely contributes to quality education. When teachers are empowered to lead on technology adoption, these tools become supports to building more equitable and resilient education systems,” affirmed Carlos Vargas, Head of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat and Chief of UNESCO's Section for Teacher Development.

By foregrounding teachers’ agency, the TTF position paper offers a practical roadmap for governments, institutions, and partners to support teachers as leaders of innovation in the age of AI. Its recommendations include governments developing comprehensive AI competency frameworks for teachers, supporting collaboration through professional networks, and aligning national policies to enable teacher agency in the digital age.

As AI continues to evolve, this new position paper makes clear that the future of education will be shaped not by technology alone, but by how effectively teachers are enabled to harness its potential. The message from Digital Learning Week is resounding: investing in teachers is the most effective way to ensure that AI contributes to quality, inclusive, and sustainable education for all.
 

Click here to read the position paper.
 

Related links

• UNESCO and Teacher Task Force Global Report on Teachers
• Digital Learning Week
• UNESCO work on Teachers

Image credit: UNESCO/Taek OH