October 5th: WORLD TEACHERS' DAY 2004 --

The number of teachers world-wide exceeds 55 million (nearly 1 percent of the global population), serving over 1 billion students. They hold in their hands the future of our children, our prosperity, even of our very planet itself.

In order to increase the awareness of and respect for what they view to be "the world's most important job", UNESCO and Education International invite nations of the world to mark World Teachers' Day every year on 5 October. More than 100 countries now celebrate this occasion.

EI and UNESCO are again working together to promote WTD. A declaration by UN agencies, the issuing of commemorative WTD stamps, a festival of films about teachers, Internet sites offering WTD greeting cards and selections of quotes about teaching, and other international and regional events have been planned to give the World's teachers the recognition they deserve.