Held annually on October 5^th since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1996 ILO/UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of teachers.  It is celebrated worldwide for the admiration of teachers for their special contribution to society.  World Teachers’ Day is a global observance and not a public holiday. In light of this, World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on different days around the world. The average teacher spends 758 hours a year in a classroom with their students.

Teaching is the only profession that teaches other professions, and as such, should be held in high regard for its contributions to future generations. However, the standard of teaching has taken a massive hit due to the pandemic, causing many to wonder whether teachers are ready to pick up the uphill task of adapting with the times without altering the quality of their service.

The Covid-19 outbreak compelled teachers to tap into another dynamic of teaching has otherwise not been explored. E-learning has pushed both teachers and students to get into untested waters by embarking on a study method that is yet to be proven as just as effective as the traditional method of teaching. However, is now an imperative to know that teachers are to be given the benefit of the doubt in their pursuit of academic excellence with their students. Criticisms on the failure of the education system to tackle the shortcoming of the online educational system have been borne heavily by teachers mainly because they are responsible for the final execution in the knowledge transfer process.

An article published by Quartz blamed teachers for students not being engaged during online sessions. The article went forward to state that teachers/lecturers blame students for the lack of netiquette, and as a result, refused to look inward and take admit they are at fault for not being able to structure a viable learning experience for the students. As misleading as this may be, the blame is not just one sided. Humans as a species have a more innate urge to seek out scape goats when plans go haywire. Nevertheless, losing sight of the bigger picture would be disadvantageous to the every stakeholder in academia. Especially when it is evident that the unprecedented nature of affairs is just as new to teachers as it is to students.

It can certainly be said without a doubt that a new innovative educational structure is needed to be implemented in order to find a way around this perennial set back. That being said, teachers are just the means to an end, and since we are yet to stumble upon the light in this long tunnel we find ourselves in, it is inherent that have more faith and confidence in the set of professionals that have been responsible for training basically any other professionals that exists in the world today.

This is a piece by the Ghana Society for Education Technology, an education membership organization as well as an accredited continuous professional development provider in Ghana. GSET is the premier professional educational technology associate in Africa. We work with the Ghanaian education community with the aim of accelerating the use of technology to solve tough problems and inspire innovation in education.