World Teachers Day 2024 was established in 1994 by UNESCO to thank educators worldwide for their contributions to shaping the world. Where would we be without teachers?

The rhetorical question becomes even more pressing when one confronts the urgent and dire state of South Africa’s current education system, which is deeply entrenched in crisis from a learning and teaching perspective. This problem demands immediate attention and action.

The heartbeat of any school is the teacher. Yet, there is little recognition of society’s unsung heroes, without whom the crisis in the education system would be far worse.

Last year, the South African Council of Educators (SACE) dismissed 36 teachers for various misdemeanours. For all the good, there are bad apples.

As the globe celebrates World Teacher’s Day today (October 5), it is not enough to praise those men and women who nurtured the past and the present and are raising the future; it is about asking whether society is doing all that it can to ensure they are accorded the status and given the necessary tools to do jobs.

While not a panacea for the system's challenges, the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill is a step towards improving education quality through learning and teaching. In this context, it holds significant potential for improving the lives of learners, giving us hope for a brighter future. But it needs a committed teaching force.

We need no reminder that children cannot read, write, or display numeracy skills by grade four. The infrastructure inadequacies, especially pit latrine toilets, lack of proper sanitation, and poor school safety and security, are well documented. But what about ensuring the skills that would make teachers more effective in the classroom?

The Freedom Charter and the Bill of Rights prioritized education. But the BELA Bill seeks to give it teeth by ensuring that the doors of learning are inclusive and open to all.

Education is an integral part of a new trajectory to build the future we want and deserve. It should start as early as grade R, where teachers instil values of service and humanity in children. Social media has shown that children of the 21st century are poor at reading and, in many cases, are pursuing selfish recognition or are inspired by expensive brands without caring for their fellow man. School used to be a place for equals, sharing lunch with those who did not have, caring for each other, and, above all, respecting teachers as if they were one's parents.

With the rudeness shown to teachers by pupils, the lack of respect from the government in recognising their value as citizens, and the downgrading of the profession by unions invested more in politics than people, educators are not in a happy space.

The government has indicated that it will cost around R16 billion to engage new teachers for Grade R. Investment in the future is critical, but it would appear counter-productive if teachers in the system were being sacrificed.

The current crisis over teacher job cuts caused by budgetary constraints is a case of money versus the country’s greatest human resources. In each province, at least 2,500 teachers are being sacrificed due to these budget cuts.

While there has been an uproar in the Western Cape, unions' silence on teacher cuts is alarming. Both the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) and the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) have had more to say on the Bela Bill than the plight of teachers who will join the ranks of the unemployed.

In fact, since democracy, one has to question the value and role of unions in servicing the people who matter most – its members. Yet, union leaders seem intent on dancing to the government’s tune, perhaps sustaining the pipeline from union leader to the government gravy train. Former Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, served as Assistant General Secretary of Sadtu in 1990 before he was elected as General Secretary in 1995.

Once thriving and always championing the challenges that put teachers first Sadtu has become silent in democracy. One must ask if this was because its members, like Nxesi, have been co-opted into government, it keeps them silent? Can teachers honestly say Nxesi batted for them as a Minister? Sadly, there is no evidence to support this argument, although as labour minister, he could have done more to help professionalise and make teaching a solid career option.

The leadership vacuum at unions has also resulted in their diminished powers. Thirty years after the end of apartheid, it is necessary for unions to rediscover their voices, which made them relevant and strong before democracy. They must show that they care about those whose subscriptions pay the salaries of their elected leadership. Sadtu and Naptosa will insist they care about teachers. But they don’t show it enough. Why comment on or welcome the BELA Bill and not take issue with a government that is slashing budgets, resulting in teachers losing their jobs?

While the Bela Bill has divided opinion, notably over its language and admissions policies, which the DA and the white Afrikaner lobby group Afriforum have contested, Grade R schooling will better prepare young children for entry into formal school. However, this has to be backed up by appropriately qualified teachers, the availability of classrooms, and teaching resources. Bela Bill will not succeed unless teachers are equal to the task.

Many argue that South Africa has wonderful rights-friendly laws that seek to meet the promise of a better life for all espoused by the ANC before the watershed 1994 elections. Unfortunately, the delivery was an Achilles heel. In 2024, World Teachers’ Day will focus on the theme "Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education". This year's celebrations will emphasise the pivotal role that teachers play in shaping the future of education and the urgent need to incorporate their perspectives into educational policy and decision-making processes.

There should not be empty speeches but corrective action to make teachers the heartbeat of a system that transforms the hearts and minds of South Africa. The rest of the world will follow suit. Otherwise, a narrative of failure will continue to haunt the profession with empty celebrations annually on World Teachers Day.

Edwin Naidu is a communications specialist and heads social enterprise start-up Higher Education Media.