Excerpts from the Speech of Dr. Maximo C. Aljibe, CESO IV, Regional Director, CHED XII, during the celebration of World Teachers’ Day at SAC last  Oct. 5, 2016

Why do we celebrate the World Teachers’ Day today? Historically, through the International Education as an organization with at least 400 members and UNESCO declaration, the celebration officially gives an international recognition to the valuable contributions of teachers in development.

The teaching profession is said to be the noblest among the professions. Why? The salary is not so very competitive as compared to other professions but its requirement of integrity is higher and more rigid. More than that, every teacher in whatever level has to do more sacrifices and selfless efforts just to transform lives of those he/she teaches. Also, a teacher is a “second parent.”

Moreover, teaching is the noblest profession because without a teacher, we will not have all kinds of professionals.

In the global context, our teachers should adopt creative strategies utilizing ICT-driven facilities. Dear teachers, please ask yourselves these questions: Am I out of place in my strategies of teaching? Do I apply interesting strategies in my class? Am I interesting? Why I ask you to do this to yourselves? I just want you to realize that your  students are not the students of yesterday. They are the millennials. They are the cyber age babies. They are technologically-driven individuals.

If life is the biggest classroom, its toughest lesson is its PURPOSE. Our life has purpose. The challenge for teachers is to draw out this sense of purpose from his/her students in the teaching and learning processes. Teachers should INSPIRE students. They should be their LIGHT. They should guide students to realize their fundamental purpose in life.

Congratulations to all our teachers. Congratulations for being the LIGHT for the future. Do not forget the TRIAD challenge of your profession. UPGRADE skills, INNOVATE strategies and TRANSFORM lives. If you have been doing these, then, the future of this country and this world is in the right hands. The noble contributions of teachers will always be extolled in the timeless monuments of the world.