20 October 2011
Media Release
In support of World Teachers’ Day to take place on Friday 28 October 2011
Schools celebrate World Teachers’ Day
Fresh from the holidays, teachers and students will celebrate World Teachers’ Day 1 on Friday 28 October, before the
school exam season gets underway.
Seen as a day to celebrate the profession and teachers' contribution in helping children learn and achieve, UNESCO’s
World Teachers’ Day carries an international theme. This year it is ‘Teachers for gender equality’.
Of the 617 teachers and leaders nominated in the 2011-2012 round of the NEiTA Foundation’s National Excellence in
Teaching and Leadership Awards, 495 (80%) are female and 122 (20%) are male.
Convenor of the NEiTA selection panel, Br Pat Lynch, says the nominations are fairly representative of the gender
make-up of the teaching profession in New Zealand.
“Of the country’s 72,361 early childhood, primary/intermediate and secondary teachers, 57,470 (79.5%) are female and
14,891 (20.5%) are male. 2
“NEiTA aims to identify and honour great teachers and the valuable role they play in the development of the nation’s
youth. It also builds the status of the profession so as to encourage talented students to seriously consider teaching
as a career, using great teachers and leaders as their inspiration,” says Pat Lynch.
For 16 years, NEiTA – with the support of ASG Education Programs New Zealand and, more recently, Cognition Education –
has helped pioneer these awards as a way of acknowledging the important work of teachers and leaders within the school
community. During this time, over 3,700 early childhood education, primary/intermediate and secondary school teachers
have been nominated for awards. These teachers continue to positively contribute to the reputation of the profession.
ends
1 World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 28 October in New Zealand and Australia and internationally on 5 October.
2 Figures from www.educationcounts.govt.nz