Quality teachers = quality education

Aside from the "No Prostitution Day," today, October 5, is also the "World Teachers' Day." This year's theme is "Build the Future: Invest in Teachers Now."

I think this year's celebration is well-themed. We should really invest in the teachers. We should give as much focus to improving their lot as we do to students. For what makes schools tick is neither air-conditioned classrooms nor nice textbooks. It's the quality of teachers.

A 2007 research done by McKinsey & Company argued that the reasons why some schools perform better than the others are that these schools: (1) get the right people to become teachers, (2) develop them into effective instructors, and (3) ensure that they are able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.