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