Teachers' Day in Chile Date in the current year: October 16, 2024

Originally Teacher's Day was officially established in Chile on September 11, 1967 and it was called Día del Maestro. In 1975 the government of Chile made a decision to rename the holiday to Día del Profesor and move the date of celebration to December 10 to commemorate the day, when a Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral received a prestigious Nobel Prize in 1945. He became the first Latin American educator to receive the Prize.

In 1977 the date of celebration was moved again, this time to October 16 to celebrate foundation of Teachers' College in Chile. The final date eventually became the Chilean Teachers' Day, however, many teachers are lobbying to change this date to the original one. They explain this decision by the fact, that the current date was imposed by the military dictatorship.

Celebration of Teachers'Day scatters across all schools in Chile. Students and their parents send cards or gifts to their teachers, that is a token of appreciation of their work.