Education is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits. Quality education specifically entails issues such as appropriate skills development, gender parity, provision of relevant school infrastructure, equipment, educational materials and resources, scholarships or teaching force.
Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91%, but 57 million children still remain out of school. More than half of children who are not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 50% of out-of-school children of primary school age live in conflict-affected areas. 103 million youth worldwide are still illiterate, and more than 60% of them are women.
Why Education is crucial to achieving SDG-4
Education is at the root of this SDG, which aims to ensure education for all, starting from basic education. Specific objectives include providing more opportunities for technical and vocational training to youth and adults so they can get better jobs; ending inequality in educational opportunities between men and women; providing the right education for children with disabilities, indigenous people and victims of conflict; improving school facilities to provide a safe and positive environment for everyone; increasing the number of trained and qualified teachers and promoting education for sustainable development. (Access to Learning objectives for SDG-4)
Early Childhood Care and Education
- At this stage, stimulating learning spaces and environments contribute to unleash the learners’ potential in creative representation, through drawing, painting, role play or modelling activities. They learn to initiate social relations while making plans and taking decisions, solving problems encountered in play activities, expressing feelings and being sensitive to others. (Access Educational materials here)
Primary Education
- At this level, learners are introduced to the SDGs as a set of targets with the aim of ending extreme poverty for everyone and of tackling problems related to climate change. They adopt a critical and engaged approach towards learning, thereby valuing quality education for all. (Access Educational materials here)
Secondary Education
- At this level, learners learn about sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles. They are capable of analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing complex issues and of applying learning in new contexts. At the same time, they appreciate the advantages of co-operating to pursue a common goal. (Access Educational materials here)
Pedagogical Resources
- Advocacy Kit For Promoting Multilingual Education – Including The Excluded - This kit advocates making education systems more responsive to cultural diversity. It provides important insights into the value of mother tongue-based multilingual education, which respects the rights of children.
- Early Childhood Care And Education (ECCE) - These UNESCO technical Notes are meant to serve as practical information on each topic.
- Myths And Misconceptions About The Convention On The Rights Of The Child - This booklet breaks down some of the common myths and misconceptions about children’s rights which UNICEF has come across in our work with teachers, parents and school communities through the Rights Respecting Schools Award.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Children On The Move - This resource aims to build an understanding of what life is like for people forced to flee their homes, and to understand that migration has and continues to affect everyone.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- Come Celebrate SDG 4 Quality Education With Patsy Peace & Eco Boys And Girls - Poster
- Maths Garden - Video of students converting their school open area into a learning space
Get Inspired
- Cambodia- Supporting Maternal and Child Health Improvement and Building Literate Environment (SMILE) - Page 51 - This programme works with women and children. It has strong links in the communities in which it operates. It aims to promote self-sufficiency and self-reliance in Cambodian communities and to advance women’s economic and social rights. The objectives are to improve women’s conditions with regard to education and health, to build a literate environment at home and in the community, and to improve the health of mothers and children.
Pedagogical Resources
- Philosophy For Children Teachers Guide - This resource facilitates philosophical and critical thinking and discussion. Children generate discussions about poverty and suffering and become critical thinkers about the development process.
- Chakra The Invincible - A comic adventure to support Sustainable Development Goal 4.
- Pesach And Children’s Rights - This pack aims to provide pupils with an opportunity to explore the links between the Pesach theme of liberation, and the importance of human and children’s rights. Pupils further explore the values that underpin these rights.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Why Are So Many Children Still Not In School - This resource aims to: Explore issues about the lives of children that cannot go to school; Empathise with the circumstances of other children; Learn about the barriers to education that some children face.
- A Multilingual Treasure Hunt - This resource aims to help students to experience a situation where they cannot find their way because they are unable to speak the language and empathise with refugees.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- 2 Girls 2 Lives – 1 Goal Education For All - This film tells the story of 2 girls born on the same day in Johannesburg. One had the opportunity to go to school, the other did not.
- Explore A Malawian School - A group of children from a primary school in Malawi was given a 360 camera so that they could show you around their school. Click on the video to see different directions – what similarities and differences from your school can you spot?
- SDG 4 - 57 Million Children Out Of School - This video explains the relevance of data to get all children in school and learning by 2030.
Get Inspired
- New York City Department of Education 2013–2014 Sustainability Report - In light of NYC’s groundbreaking efforts through PlaNYC 2030 and the DOE’s strong commitment to sustainability practices in school buildings, the research team is exploring which schools are more likely to engage with teaching and learning of environmental issues through a partner programme, such as global climate change, community gardening, etc. The DOE and the research team at Teachers College believe that ensuring all schools, regardless of social background, have the opportunity to engage their students with ESE programmes is not only important, but also in line with the inspiring idea of a sustainable future in our city and schools.
Pedagogical Resources
- UNESCO Roadmap For Implementing The Global Action Programme On Education For Sustainable Development - The Global Action Programme and its Roadmap are aimed at governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, media, the academic and research community, and all other that facilitate and support learning and training.
- Quality Education: Why It Matters - Technical Note presenting SDG 4, why education matters, how it enables people to get better jobs and lives, progress on education over the last years and where people are struggling the most to have access to education.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Education Can Transform The World - This resource aims to: Understand the power of education for transforming lives; Know that not everyone has the same access to education; Practice persuasive writing techniques; Advocate for equal access to education for everyone.
- A Multilingual Treasure Hunt - This resource aims to help students to experience a situation where they cannot find their way because they are unable to speak the language and empathise with situations that other find themselves in.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- SDG 4 Quality Education For The World We Want - Video about the importance of quality education, for the world we want.
- SDG 4 Sustainable Development Begins With Education - This video presents the need for citizenship to ensure quality education for all.
- Educating The Next Generation Of A Madagascar Family - One million are out of school in Madagascar. However, Lantonirina, 11, is focused on finishing school and dreams of becoming a teacher. Her mother and sister married young and had to leave school, so she is determined to break the cycle.
Get Inspired
- Reaching out to the less fortunate- Athlone High School (public secondary) - Page 19 - At the foundation of sustainable development lies solidarity, taking an interest in others and sharing knowledge, resources, and affection. In order to sensitize students to the needs of others and encourage them to lend support, visits were made to three places in the community: an orphanage (the Christine Revell Home), a camp of squatters and a home for the elderly. In each place students demonstrated empathy and solidarity. Under the slogan “Think BIG/ACT small”, they brought toiletry items for children in the orphanage, they interviewed squatters and listened to their needs and they entertained the elderly with songs and talks. The entire school collected items to be donated. Research was undertaken and comparative charts were produced showing persisting inequalities with regard to gender and social levels.
