At the Varkey Foundation, we believe in a quality education for every child. That’s why, together with our partners, we work to build the status of teachers to ensure that the quality of teaching is enhanced, and outcomes will improve. Our vision is a quality education for every child – through boosting the status of teachers and celebrating the profession.
Teachers matter. Every day, in classrooms around the world, teachers do amazing things. But too often, their work goes unrecognised and unrewarded.
Research by The Varkey Foundation carried out in 2013 and 2018 (Global Teacher Status Index) found that few people see teaching as a high-status job and few think pupils respect their teachers. Relatively few parents say they would encourage their children to be teachers.
We also know that there is a shortage of teachers across the world – with 69m more teachers needed to provide universal primary and secondary education by 2030.
And too often, teachers are not trained or supported to be effective – and that means pupils are not learning. One recent study from the World Bank showed that only 9% of teachers in sub Saharan Africa had the minimum required knowledge of pedagogy to effectively teach the curriculum, and only 7% could correctly mark a year 4 test on spelling and comprehension.
We believe that teachers are critical to our global future. Through our work across the world, we’ve seen how great teachers can transform the lives of their students and their wider communities for the better.
Today we work, research and campaign all around the world, and everything we do is driven by one simple belief: teachers matter.
Sunny Varkey, Founder, Varkey Foundation