The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said the theme was timeless and spoke to the notion that teachers are nation builders.
The union's general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke added for true transformation, the government needs to invest more in South Africa's teachers.
In an interview, Mugwena said:
For the profession to grow and transform, sufficient remuneration was key to attracting more young people to join the profession.
According to reports, teachers who are already in the profession are faced with the reality of them being left behind in the planning of policies as they only allow involvement after policies have already been developed.
The exclusion of teachers in critical processes in the education sector ultimately leaves them exposed to partial training and contradicts the idea of investing in education.
The union has also shared that if the government and citizens valued and trusted the education sector more, the country would be better equipped to deal with issues of growth.
Since this year's theme is primarily about transformation in education, it is then relevant as a result of embarking on a journey of transforming education and embracing issues of artificial intelligence (AI) in education.
This comes at a time when the pandemic had forced the education sector, along with other sectors in the world, to equip itself with more digital skills.
Education Expert Dr. David Makovah also pointed out that teachers need to be upskilled, and in turn, transfer the digital skills to their own learners.
