“A quality education grants us the ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty.” – Charles Rangel
The aim of this goal is targeted achieving a state where youth have access to early pre-primary education, universal primary and secondary education, being equipped with relevant skills necessary for decent work and education that leads to sustainable development.
Interesting Facts To Note
Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 per cent but 57 million primary age children remain out of school.
617 million youth worldwide lack basic mathematics and literacy skills
103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 percent of them are women.
Progress Made So Far
Over the past decade, major progress was made towards increasing access to education and school enrollment rates at all levels, particularly for girls. The total enrolment rate in developing regions reached 91 percent in 2015, and the worldwide number of children out of school has dropped by almost half.
MTW’s Involvement In Achieving Goal 4
During the Quality Education session, MTW through its Get Global Programme help participants have a broader sense of their communities, the offers they have for them and how they form apart of it. Of course, being a Global Citizen requires having an understanding of the SDG(s) and how education progresses them all.
Youth through specific innovative activities like the Human Hand-knot, What-Do-You-Know (Power of Education), Reading Buddy, Musical Chair, Passport Exercise and the Talking World Pillow help to develop youth in areas such as teamwork, active listening, mentoring, personal responsibility, creativity and self awareness!
The feedback gathered from not just the youth but also the teachers and the school authorities communicates that the inclusion of the program in their curriculum is helping their students enjoy lessons better and increase participatory engagements even in class.
State of Goal 4 During COVID19
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, a majority of countries announced the temporary closure of schools, impacting more than 91 per cent of students worldwide. By April 2020, close to 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school. And nearly 369 million children who rely on school meals needed to look to other sources for daily nutrition.
What You Can Be Done To Achieve Goal 4
The goal is to transmit not only the basics, but also the skills and values to make our societies more equitable, resilient, and inclusive.
Implementing this ambitious vision of education will require new and broader partnerships.
Education has to receive higher billing, nationally and globally. New emerging-economy donors such as, the private sector, foundations, and philanthropists – must be mobilized.
A massive global push is required to address the plight of children and young people in conflict-affected countries
On a personal note, supporting institutions like MTW through donations and expertise to keep a program such as the Get Global running is considered highly vital. Nonetheless, getting others involve even at your community is essential as well. You can help raise funds and organise events and workshops to better educate your community and even your network about the essence of quality education and ways they can contribute.
In conclusion
Education is the key that will allow many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved. Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems.
Reference links:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty
