SINCE the declaration of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in 1994, many nations across the globe celebrate October 5 as World Teachers’ Day. The Philippines joins this celebration and has, in fact, declared September 5 to October 5 as Teachers’ Month. The Department of Education (DepEd) culminated this monthlong celebration on October 4, with a grand celebration at Victorias City, Negros Occidental attended by more or less 7,500 teachers from Regions 6, 7 and 8.
But that is “World Teachers Day.” When I joined the DepEd in 2010 and participated in the World Teachers’ Day commemoration in Ultra at that time, I got curious as to whether other countries have set another day for their own Teachers’ Day celebration. In a quick research, I found out that while many countries have also adopted October 5 as their sole date to celebrate Teachers’ Day, there are also many countries which have set a separate Teachers’ Day celebration (aside from the October 5 date set by Unesco).
The concept of celebrating Teachers’ Day happened in many countries way before the 1994 Unesco declaration and that “in most cases, they celebrate a local educator or an important milestone in education.” One of the examples mentioned is India where they celebrate their Teachers’ Day on September 5 (since 1962), or the date when their former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born. Radhakrishnan is a recognized scholar, educator, philosopher and statesman in India even prior to his assumption of the Indian presidency in 1962. He was “influential in shaping the understanding of Hinduism, in both India and the west” and was considered as a “bridge-builder between India and the West.” He also said that the “teachers should be the best minds in the country.”
Other examples of “different” Teachers’ Day celebration are Argentina, September 11 (to honor the memory and work of an “educator, activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento”); Brunei Darussalam, September 23 (“to commemorate the birthdate of the 28th ruler of Brunei, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien II”, who is also recognized by their people as the Architect of Modern Brunei” and he had “emphasized the importance of education to his subjects by introducing a policy of free education”); Bolivia, June 6; Chile, October 16 (to commemorate the founding of the “Colegio de Profesores de Chile or Teachers’ Association of Chile”); China, September 10 (Taiwan celebrates it on September 28 since the 1950s); Egypt, February 28; Greece, January 30; Guatemala, June 25; Indonesia, November 25 (or on the same day as the “formation of the Indonesian Teachers’ Association”); LaoPDR, October 7; Malaysia, May 16 (or the same day “in 1956 when the Federal Legislative Council of the Federation of Malaysia endorsed the “Razak Report” or a report proposing educational reforms in Malaysia”); Mexico, May 15; Singapore, first Friday of September; South Korea, May 15 (“Sejong the Great’s” birthday; Sejong Daewang is a 15th century Korean monarch); Thailand, January 16; and Vietnam, November 20 (in 1982 the day was renamed “Vietnamese Educators’ Day”).
In the US, it is celebrated on a Tuesday “during the Teacher Appreciation Week which takes place in the first full week of May.”
After finding all these out, I asked myself, why are we not celebrating a separate Teachers’ Day just like the other countries? Don’t we have an “educator hero”, whose life or advocacies dramatically influenced our education system so that we may now have our own Teachers’ Day commemoration?
I reflected and then realized the answer. We don’t have a separate Teachers’ Day because indeed, we don’t have one “educator hero” the way he or she may be recognized in other countries on education. Why again? Because what we have is not just “one educator hero” but many “educator heroes”—as all of our teachers are our living heroes in education. It is only right therefore that we consider every day as Teachers’ Day—to recognize their dedication, commitment and sacrifices for all our children to achieve our dream of quality education for all.
As Education Secretary Bro. Armin A. Luistro, FSC aptly said on October 4, “If we want to transform our country, we need living heroes” and that “everyday that our teachers spend in classroom is living heroism” as “each day they stand in front of the students is another day of taking on the challenge of eliminating illiteracy and ignorance among the minds of the Filipino youth.” He further added that as our teachers teach our children, “they empower every learner and ignite within them the aspiration to achieve greatness—not only for themselves but also for others.”
Mabuhay ang mga guro! Mabuhay ang lahat ng gurong Filipino! Please feel free to share any of your education-related concern by e-mailing me at tonisito.umali@deped.gov.ph or writing to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs, Deparment of Education Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City.
- Lawyer Toni Umali is the current assistant secretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs of the Department of Education (DepEd). He is licensed to practice law not only in the Philippines but also in the State of California and some Federal Courts in the United States of America after passing the California State Bar Examinations in 2004. He is also a member of the National Board of the National Union of Career Executive Service Officers—an organization of Career Executive Service officers comprising the “third level” or the managerial class in the group of career positions in the Philippine civil service. The Career Executive Service was created by Presidential Decree 1 to “form a continuing pool of well-selected and development-oriented career administrators who shall provide competent and faithful service.” He has served as legal consultants to several legislators and local chief executives. As DepEd assistant secretary, he was instrumental in the passage of the K to 12 law and the issuance of its implementing rules and regulations. He is also the alternate spokesman of the DepEd.