October 5
There are dozens of Teachers’ Days celebrated on different dates around the world, often on the birthdays of countries’ greatest instructors.
Taiwan and India celebrate Teachers’ Day in September with the observed birthdays of Confucius and Radhakrishnan respectively.
The Czech Republic celebrates on March 28 with the birthday of Jan Amos Komensky.
Finland honors Mikael Agricola on April 9.
China celebrates Teachers’ Day on September 10.
In the United States, the first full week in May is Teacher Appreciation Week.
But October 5 is World Teachers’ Day, an observance that began in 1994 and has been picking up momentum as an international celebration ever since.
Why October 5?
October 5 is the anniversary of the day in 1789 that the women of Paris marched on Versailles in what became known as the “March on Versailles”, in order to…
“confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.” (wikipedia.org)
But that has nothing to do with Teachers’ Day (though it does sound like something we should have learned in school).
No, best we can tell, the October 5 date may have something to do with the fact that most school years start in September, and by early October, the kids haven’t yet driven their teachers absolutely insane. (That comes mid-November).
October 5 was also the date in 1966 that UNESCO adopted a “Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers” at the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers.
One of the document’s guiding principles was is:
“Education from the earliest school years should be directed to the allround development of the human personality and to the spiritual, moral, social, cultural and economic progress of the community, as well as to the inculcation of deep respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms…”
We doff our caps to those who have chosen teaching as their full-time profession!