Will teachers celebrate World Teachers' Day, which is recognised in over 100 countries, next Sunday? TUI president Alice Prendergast says that demands on teachers, have escalated so much that "stress and the decline in working conditions are threatening our first class educational system. There has been a drastic decline in working conditions worldwide and an exodus of qualified and experienced teachers to better-paid jobs." Teachers, she says, should receive the moral and material recognition appropriate to their qualifications and responsibilities. World Teachers Day, she says, "is dedicated to recognising the devoted women and men on whom the education of our children depends."

John White, of the ASTI, says "it's useful that teachers would see themselves in a global context, given that the world is shrinking and there's a global economy and there's much greater exchange now."