Amid poor pay, insecurity, UN, others project 50m teachers by 2030
UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF, and Education International project a global need for an additional 50 million teachers by 2030 to meet education demands. This shortage is exacerbated by poor pay, insecurity, and inadequate welfare, particularly in countries like Nigeria, making it difficult to recruit and retain educators.
Why it matters
The projected global teacher shortage threatens the achievement of universal education goals and highlights critical issues in the teaching profession, impacting future generations' access to quality education worldwide.
The world will need an additional 50 million teachers by 2030 to meet global education needs, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Education International have warned.
This was as the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA) warned that poor pay, insecurity and inadequate welfare were eroding the teaching profession in Nigeria.
The international organisations said that 44 million would be needed to meet the projected requirement for universal primary and secondary education, while another 6 million teachers would be required for pre-primary education.
They made this known in a joint message issued to mark the 2026 World Teachers’ Day (WTD), signed by the Director-General of UNESCO , Khaled El-Enany; the ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo; the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell; and the Education International General Secretary, David Edwards.
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