The Light We Give Our Children.

Phil Hawkins
Nov 19, 2025
2 min read

Tomorrow, the world gathers to mark UNICEF's World Children’s Day, a day devoted to the rights, hopes, and limitless potential of every child. It's a day to reflect on who we are, and who we must become, for the sake of the next generation.

But as we raise our voices for children, I want to begin with a truth that is too often overlooked:

Children may carry our future, but teachers carry our children.

We cannot meaningfully honour children without honouring the people who guide their first steps into the world, the educators who ignite their minds, steady their confidence, and shape their sense of what is possible.

Across the countries where Aprender works, I have walked into classrooms that hold an astonishing paradox: the world speaks of digital revolutions and rapid progress, yet millions of children still learn in spaces with no internet, unstable electricity, few materials, and teachers who must create hope out of scarcity.

Still, these teachers show up, passionately teach with dignity, carrying the future in their hands.

And this is the part we must say out loud:

We cannot promise a better future for children

if we abandon the people entrusted with shaping that future.

A child’s right to learn does not begin with a device or a curriculum.

It begins with a teacher, a dedicated man or woman who is trained, supported, connected, and equipped. That is why at Aprender, we place teachers at the centre of progress, as the true custodians of our children’s rights.

We want to bring Aprender’s proven Apto professional-development programme into the forgotten schools where teachers often stand alone, yet responsible for shaping whole generations. With AptoBox, a teacher with a basic phone in a low-connectivity village can receive the same professional development as one in a major city.

That is more than innovation, it is equity.

It is justice.

It is the fulfilment of a child’s right to quality education in the only way that truly lasts: by strengthening the person standing in front of them.

UNICEF reminds us that every child, everywhere, has the right to learn.

But that right rests on a question the world must confront:

Who is supporting the teacher who supports the child?

On World Children’s Day, my reflection is simple:

If we want every child to rise into the world they deserve,

we must raise up their teachers.

If we want no child left behind,

we must leave no teacher behind.

If we want a just future,