Goal 4 : Quality Education

Quality Education

“Education is pre-eminently a matter of quality, not amount.”
- Henry Ford.

The Fourth goal is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.Education has long been an agenda of the UN. The first attempt in making primary education an access to all started at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand in the year 1990 in which six goals were adopted which was to be achieved by the year 2000. However, the targets were not achieved. In the year 2000, there were six Education for All (EFA) goals adopted in the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal.

A few months later, the United Nations established the eight Millennium Development Goals which were to be achieved by the year 2015. Two important MDGs with respect to the newly adopted SGDs are Goal which aimed to achieve universal access to primary education and Goal 3 which aimed in establishing gender parity in education. Ensuring quality education ensures greater economic growth, improved public health and more resilient and peaceful societies. Education also contributes to reducing inequalities and eradicating poverty, while supporting the expansion of more just, inclusive and sustainable societies.

Statistics post MDGs:
• Enrolment in primary education in developing regions reached 90 percent in 2010, up from 82 percent in 1999, which means more kids than ever are attending primary school.
• In 2011, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school.
• Even as countries with the toughest challenges have made large strides, progress on primary school enrolment has slowed. One in ten children of primary school age was still out of school in 2012.
• Gender gaps in youth literacy rates are also narrowing. Globally, 781 million adults and 126 million youth (aged 15 to 24) worldwide lack basic reading and writing skills and more than 60 percent of them are women.

Goal 4 of the SDG pushes the bar higher and sets broader and more ambitious targets when compared to the MDG.

With respect to Goal 4 of SDG, it aims to achieve:
The SDG on Quality Education aims to, by 2030
• Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality primary and secondary education
• Increase the number of young adults with relevant skills
• Eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access of University level education to all men and women.

Further, it aims to:
- Build and upgrade educational facilities which are accessible and provides for an effective learning environment.
- By 2020, increase the number of scholarships available to developing and least developed countries.
- By 2030, increase the supply of qualified teachers in developing and least developed countries.

India

In India, universal education has been a constant struggle since the constitution was drafted. After the judiciary included Right to education as a fundamental right under Article 21, the legislative was pushed enact and pass the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act in 2009. This was a major step taken by the Indian Government to achieve the goal of universal education set by the MDG.

Though we are moving closing to achieve universal primary education, we are far from achieving inclusive and quality education. The aim of the Government must now be to move towards establishing an education system which is universal, inclusive and improve the quality of the present day educational system, not just the primary educational institutions but higher educational institutions as well.

Conclusion

The goals adopted over the past few years have made far reaching gains over the past few years. Countries have used these goals as a foundation to build on and move towards improving their education policies. Since 2000, the international community has made remarkable progress in expanding educational opportunities and has made education a reality for all those who dreamt of it. Achieving the targets set by the SDG will require the commitment from both the governments and international organizations to allocate sufficient and efficient financing towards education, especially in developing and under developed countries.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela