Chapter 3: Creating A Global Teaching Workforce: Reflections on the Status of Teachers and Sustainable Development Goal 4

The global challenges in teacher supply-and-demand have been well-documented. In some parts of the world, such as New Zealand and Australia, there is an over-supply of teachers at times, whilst in other areas, most notably sub-Saharan Africa, there are too few teachers to meet demand. Chronic teacher shortages are however the predominant challenge when it comes to matters of supply-and-demand. Statistics from United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2016) indicate that an additional 69 million teachers will be needed in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) through the implementation of Goal 4.c to “substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers.”