Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Good afternoon and happy Eid ul Fitr 2018 to all my followers and fans globally. May the day delight and the moments measure all the special joys for all of you to treasure. May the year ahead be fruitful too, for your home and family and especially for you.Eid Mubarak.

Today, I happily bring you a digest of goal number four. 

First, the bad news on education. Poverty, armed conflict and other emergencies keep many children around the world out of school. In fact, children from the poorest households are four times more likely to be out of school than those of the richest households. 

Now for some good news since 2000, there has been enormous progress on the goal to provide primary education to all children globally: the total enrolment rate in developing regions has reached 91%. By measures in any school, that’s a good grade. 

Now, let’s get an even better grade for all children, and achieve the goal of universal primary and secondary education, affordable vocational training, access to higher education and more.

Statistics indicate that as many as 130 million children have not acquired basic reading and math skills after attending school for four years. Fifty-nine million children are out of school. The world faces an acute teacher shortage. Education is not only a human right and a gateway to better health and a decent job but also provides a basis for the achievement of many other SDGs.

Through SDG 4, world leaders guarantee inclusive quality education for all, and promise to promote lifelong learning. Inclusion and learning is central to several of the targets: the learning pathways should span from kindergarten to secondary education and university. 

Furthermore, the education must be relevant to the labor market, and provide knowledge about sustainability-related issues such as human rights and non-violence. The targets also promise investments in teachers.

SDG 4 is ambitious, especially because it challenges us in two main ways: 1) Where the goal of the MDGs was to ensure that all children entered school, the SDGs commit us to providing children with quality education that everybody learns from. 2) Everyone must benefit from quality education: the education MDG was admittedly a zero goal (no child should be out of school), but in the achievement of the goal countries focused on averages. 

Through the SDGs“leave no one behind” principle, governments are now challenged to pick the high-hanging fruit—those who are excluded and still marginalized from school. Education is one of UN’s main priorities in development cooperation, and the member government have made an honest effort to raise awareness and funding of education nationally and internationally.

Targets and Indicators

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

Proportion of children and young people:(a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.

4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex

Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex.

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous

12 months, by sex.

4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill.

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated.

4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

Percentage of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex.

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment

Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

Proportion of schools with access to: (a) electricity; (b) the Internet for pedagogical purposes; (c) computers for pedagogical purposes; (d) adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; (e) basic drinking water; (f) single sex basic sanitation facilities; and (g) basic handwashing facilities (as per the WASH indicator definitions).

4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study.

4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

Proportion of teachers in: (a) pre-primary;(b) primary; (c) lower secondary; and (d) upper secondary education who have received at least the minimum organized teacher training (e.g. pedagogical training) pre-service or in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country.

Libraries support this goal by:

1. Supporting literacy programmes in schools, universities and colleges in every country around the world.

2. Providing a safe space for reading and learning.

3. Supporting researchers to reuse research and data to create new knowledge.

Therefore, the world is in a global learning crisis. The next few years the world needs 11 million more teachers to ensure that all children receive basic education. Together, lets us ensure Inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 

Email:haumban@gmail.com