Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education
What is SDG 4?
'SDG 4' refers to the fourth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are a set of global goals which the world aims to achieve fully by 2030.
This fourth goal is 'Quality Education', and comes with ten different targets, including three methods of implementation, which can be summarised as follows:
4.1: Free, quality universal primary and secondary education
4.2: Universal access to early childhood development education
4.3: Universal access to technical, vocational and tertiary education
4.4: Increased skills for decent work
4.5: Equal access to education for all
4.6: High rates of literacy and numeracy
4.7: Increased skills for sustainable development
4.A: Improve school infrastructure for all
4.B: Increase the number of available scholarships for tertiary education
4.C: Increase the supply of qualified teachers
Why do we need this SDG?
At the moment, 263 million young people are not in education, of which 57 million should be in primary school. Furthermore, even those children who do go to school do not always reach minimum targets.
If nothing changes, then in 2030, over half of the world’s population across all low and middle-income countries (825 million people) will not have the basic skills they need for the modern workforce.
As well as this, education has resounding impacts on other areas. Education is the foundation for achieving many of the other Sustainable Development Goals, and it protects children from child labour, forced marriage, child trafficking, becoming child soldiers, being recruited by extremists and kidnapping.
Investing in the young people of today means investing in the leaders of tomorrow. If we want to see a better world, we have to give people the tools to achieve that, through quality education.
What are some of the challenges in achieving SDG 4?
Some of the challenges we need to overcome in order to achieve SDG 4 include:
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Funding: if the current funding situation does not change, it will take us until 2222 to achieve SDG 4...which is well past the target of 2030!
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Young populations: more than ½ of all non-schooled children live in sub-Saharan Africa, and by 2030 this region will have to provide 2.6 times more basic education than it currently does due to the young population
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Conflict zones: it is difficult to reach children whose education is being disrupted in areas where there is sustained violence
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Marginalised groups: 1/3 of developing countries have not yet achieved gender equality in education, and disabled children also face difficulties when trying to access educational opportunities
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Changing mind-sets: in order to make progress with SDG 4, everyone has to cooperate - this means convincing politicians and powerful people in society of the importance of investing in education
How can we help achieve this SDG?
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is the responsibility of everyone. Here are some of the ways in which you can help contribute:
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Support NGOs working towards quality education:
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Encourage NGOs to partner with youth
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Help NGOs spread the word about the importance of education in local communities
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Challenge the government:
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Encourage the government to invest in education, and make it free for everyone
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Encourage the government to change the education system so that it everyone has equal access to educational opportunities
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Work with the private sector:
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Encourage the private sector to invest in education
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Data and accountability: demand transparency from all stakeholders in the education sector, so that we can make genuine progress
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Raise awareness of the importance of education in our own communities
References:
Bright and Early: How financing pre-primary education gives every child a fair start in life
https://s3.amazonaws.com/theirworld-site-resources/Reports/Theirworld-Report-Bright-and-Early-June-2017.pdf
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
Just 1% of early childhood development aid goes to pre-primary education
https://theirworld.org/news/just-1-percent-of-early-childhood-development-aid-goes-to-education
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
GYA Brief: International Finance Facility for Education
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nvHSvOEe0CjQ6KY1BtgJxemm31cGQM5Avwlko6AQZ_I/mobilebasic
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
OECD Data: Net ODA
https://data.oecd.org/oda/net-oda.htm
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
SDG 4: Education
https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sdg-goal-4
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
Steps to Achieve SDG 4 for Every Last Child
http://campaignforeducationusa.org/blog/detail/steps-to-achieve-sdg4-for-every-last-child
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
Sustainable Development Goal 4 and its usage
https://en.unesco.org/education2030-sdg4/targets
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]
Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 4
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/
[Accessed on 20/05/2018]