Seit 1994 feiert die UNESCO am 5. Oktober den Weltlehrertag, um das Menschenrecht auf Bildung mit der Forderung nach qualifizierten, angemessen bezahlten und anerkannten Lehrerinnen und Lehrern zu verknüpfen. Insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund des Mangels an qualifizierten Lehrpersonen für die Grundbildung in vielen Ländern sollen international Veranstaltungen auf die Bedeutung des Berufs aufmerksam machen.

Held annually on 5 October since 1994, World Teachers Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This Recommendation sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. The Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel was adopted in 1997 to complement the 1966 Recommendation by covering teaching and research personnel in higher education. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education, and the dedicated target (SDG 4.c) recognizing teachers as key to the achievement of the Education 2030 agenda, WTD has become the occasion to mark progress and reflect on ways to counter the remaining challenges for the promotion of the teaching profession. The occasion is taken to remind the global community that The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher. This theme was chosen to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), where education is recognized as a key fundamental right that cannot be fulfilled without qualified teachers. In 2018, a focus is placed on the lack of teachers and overcrowded classrooms.