Spotlight on SDG4: Quality Education

Adopted by member states of the United Nations in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are ‘an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.’ Aimed at tackling a wide range of important issues for the good of humanity and the planet, the Goals will enable all countries to take steps forward together towards peace and prosperity.

The fourth goal is Quality Education and aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ Broken down into 10 targets, this goal will tackle gender inequality in education, ensure literacy and numeracy for all, and provide safe learning environments. Focused on primary, secondary and tertiary education, SDG4 also aims to provide the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development.

While progress has been made towards achieving the targets of SDG4, there is still some way to go to ensure that the targets are met by 2030 as planned. The first progress report finds that the COVID-19 pandemic caused learning losses in 4 in 5 countries of the 104 studied and that just 1 in 3 countries could achieve their national benchmark for 2025. While the SDGs aim to build up all countries, there is evidence to show that lower income countries are only managing slow change.

However, the progress report shows that between 2015 and 2021 the school completion rate has seen an increase from 85% to 87% in primary schools. Secondary schools are seeing progress in completion rates too, with growth to 77% from 74% in lower secondary and 58% up from 54% in upper secondary education.

There is still much work to be done, and research into the issues faced in education across the world can make a significant contribution to those in a position to make a difference. In support of this, we have collated a range of articles from our platform to help you develop your knowledge and aid in the achievement of the 10 targets of SDG4.

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