EI and UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Teachers
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 131 No 4, 26 June 2026, page no.5
Around 120 teachers, teacher educators, academics, and education leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region convened in Bangkok from 30 March to 2 April for the Education International (EI) and UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Teachers - Elevate, Support and Invest in the Teaching Profession.
The forum marked the first regional follow-up to UNESCO’s 2025 World Summit on Teachers and its outcome document, the Santiago Consensus. It aimed to translate international principles into concrete policy directions tailored to the Asia-Pacific context.
In his opening address, Anand Singh, Regional Director of Education International Asia Pacific (EIAP), underlined the central role of teachers in achieving global education goals.He insisted that teachers’ conditions are central to attaining United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. He said: “Improving education outcomes is impossible without improving teachers’ conditions. Governments must ensure fair and competitive salaries, job security, safe and supportive working environments, professional autonomy, and social protection. These are not benefits — they are preconditions for quality education.”
I represented the Australian Education Union (AEU) as a panellist in the plenary “Building a Diverse and Dynamic Teacher Workforce across Education Levels and Contexts”, chaired by EI Campaign Manager Angelo Gavrielatos, with clear messaging aligned to the recommendations of United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession and the Santiago Consensus.
Representatives of teacher unions and educators from South Asia, South-East Asia, North Asia, and the Pacific emphasised the urgent need for governments to take decisive action to strengthen the profession. They called for sustained public investment in education, competitive salaries, the guarantee of decent work, job security and professional dignity for teachers, and the institutionalisation of social dialogue, which is essential for effective education policy. Participants stressed that every student must have access to a qualified, supported teacher in every classroom.
Discussions also addressed emerging and systemic challenges shaping education systems by examining the impact of artificial intelligence and digitalisation, with participants agreeing that artificial intelligence must be developed and implemented in consultation with teachers. It was stressed that teachers must remain at the centre of education processes.
Participants shared regional experiences and identified key priorities for advancing the teaching profession. These included strengthening pre-service teacher education, ensuring equitable and inclusive policies, improving working conditions, and accelerating progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly SDG Target 4c, which focusses on the need for properly qualified teachers). The forum noted that improvements in teacher policies and education funding are essential to ensuring high-quality teacher preparation and ongoing professional development.
The forum concluded with a shared commitment to translate global and regional commitments into concrete national actions, ensuring that investment in teachers becomes a priority for governments across the Asia-Pacific region.