Decent work is held to be a job that allows a person to work in good and safe conditions, to be paid fairly and to provide his or her family with social protection. Decent work allows us to progress from a professional perspective, to be understood in the workplace and gives men and women the same opportunities.
Unemployment increased worldwide from 170 million people in 2007 to nearly 202 million in 2012, of which about 75 million are young women and men. Poverty eradication is only possible through stable and well-paid jobs yet nearly 2.2 billion people live below the US$2 poverty line. 470 million jobs are needed globally for newcomers to the labour market between 2016 and 2030.
Why Education is crucial to achieving SDG-8
Technical and Vocational Education and Training aims to reduce the number of unemployed youth by increasing access to training opportunities. Quality education also raises awareness about forced and child labour and helps prevent and eradicate them in all their existing forms. (Access to Learning objectives for SDG-8)
Early Childhood Care and Education
- At this level, children learn to help at home and school, and to live together. By organizing visits to sites in their immediate vicinity, such as farms, buildings sites, police or fire stations, health centres or post office, and through role play, they learn to relate to the work of people in their local community. (Access Educational materials here)
Primary Education
- Learners at this stage develop their understanding of why people work, and the meaning of social enterprises. They learn to understand the relevance of equal access and opportunities to employment for all, while appreciating the value of different forms of work, such as paid work, unpaid care work, voluntary work and creative expression. (Access Educational materials here)
Secondary Education
- The concepts of enterprise, cooperatives, workers' rights, social justice and fair trade are introduced at this stage. Learners develop skills for problem solving, critical thinking and devising of innovative approaches in the world of work. They enhance their appreciation for fairness in trade and for the principles of shared ownership for the mutual benefit of their own communities.(Access Educational materials here)
Pedagogical Resources
- A Day In The Life Of Shivnarayan, A Fairtrade Cotton Farmer - Cotton one of the most important elements in the global fashion industry, yet farmers suffer poor prices and the effects of climate change. Meet Fairtrade cotton farmer Shiv Narayan Patidar.
- A Day In The Life Of The Martenitsa - Maker - Story to inspire and excite young children to explore and appreciate the world.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Thea Discovers Chocolate - This book was written for those working with children aged 3-8 to incorporate global issues into teaching. It has a range of activities around the story themes of ‘connections between people and places’ and ‘fairness’.
- Sing Up With OXFAM - This resource, written in partnership with Sing Up, features a collection of songs about food and farming from around the world. It has been designed to meet the recommendations of the National Plan for Music Education.
- Find Your Way Through Trade - These creative and interactive educational resources, explore what trade is, and show the relationship between the (richer) Northern and the (poorer) Southern countries.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- A Day In The Life Of A Fairtrade Cocoa Farmer - “A Day in the Life of a Cocoa Farmer” explores Alvaro Pop, who is a Fairtrade cocoa farmer from Belize.
- Mama Will You Buy Me A Banana - This Irish ditty is great fun and develops listening skills by working in groups. Group 1 is singing the part of the cheeky little boy and Group 2 is the flustered mother!
- Tue Tue - Yam it up! Tue, Tue is a traditional Ghanaian song about harvesting. This would fit perfectly into Harvest Festival assemblies and can be used to explore food and farming in Ghana.
Get Inspired
- Siembras: A Communitarian Programme for Health, Coexistence and Development Promotion Skills for Life Programme. El Abrojo, Uruguay - Page 51- The target is children from 3 to 12, their educators and families. The three main subjects addressed by the programme – health, coexistence and development- are jointly promoted through a life skills approach. It translates into a participatory education perspective which seeks to facilitate the process of acquiring the ten psycho-social skills proposed by the World Health Organization. Based on participatory methodologies, human resources are available to lead the social intervention process. The training is developed through awareness raising and training workshops on life skills approach and on each one of its key topics. This training is aimed at educators from the participant centers. Educators have transmitted to the working team the impacts of the implementation of Siembras, and real positive changes on the three key subjects of the Programme have been verified.
Pedagogical Resources
- Decent Work And Economic Growth - These learning resources have been designed for students aged 7-14. Guided by their teachers, students can explore examples of social enterprises started by children and adults around the world and created their own social enterprise project.
- Learning About Clothes - This resource explains the global “rag trade”, ethical trading, up-cycling, and explores the real, relevant issues about clothes, and how to think critically about them.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Go Bananas - Go Bananas provides an interesting snapshot into the journey of a banana; helping learners to appreciate where our food comes from and develop a range of skills including using maps and images, inference, critical thinking and discussion.
- Find Your Way Through Trade - These creative and interactive educational resources explore what trade is, and show the relationship between the (richer) Northern and the (poorer) Southern countries.
- The Clothes Line - This series of lesson plans and photo story teaches about Fair Trade, the textiles industry and India. Lessons include an exploration of the journey of cotton from the field to the shops; a quiz about India; and a class survey about the origins of learners' own clothes.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- Join Us To Localize SDG 8 - Video showing how achieving SDG8 depends on local governments. The jobs and economy of the future will be urban. By 2030, 60% of the global population will live in cities.
- Poverty, Trade And Aid - This animation addresses the ways aid and trade are used to work together to improve human wellbeing. This includes a case study from Indonesia.
- A To Do List For The Planet - Goal 8 (Decent Work And Economic Growth) - This comic poster presents the meaning of decent work and economic growth.
Get Inspired
- The Recycling School - Each day Cairo produces nearly 14,000 tons of garbage. At the foot of Mokattam live the vast metropolis’s trash collectors, known as “zabbaleen”. Living from the income of the garbage they collect, this “cast” in their own right lives excluded from society. The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) strives to improve their living conditions and, more importantly, to restore a certain dignity to them by transforming their work into an actual business. Today, recycling is an important industry. The Recycling School gives children the necessary basic education, health recommendations, and practical training to turn recycling into a genuine trade.
Pedagogical Resources
- Decent Work And Economic Growth: Why It Matters - Technical Note presenting SDG 8, why we should care about this goal, how many people are unemployed, how many jobs are needed, the meaning of decent work and how we can fix these issues.
- ESD+TVET - Promoting Skills For Sustainable Development - This booklet explains how to systematically integrate ESD into all levels and settings of education and training, and how to advance and green Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
- Starting My Own Small Business - This guide consists of a training module on entrepreneurship for students of technical and vocational education and training at secondary level.
Ideas for Classroom Activities
- Food Tales - Investigating Climate Change Through Literacy, English, Language, Arts - This resource aims to: Understand the framework of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development; Create awareness about the impact your student’s daily choices have on climate and the Global Goals.
- The Human Face Of Food -Investigations In Social Science - This resource aims to: Understand the framework of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development; Stimulate students to think about the agricultural, rural, and fishing industries that produce food across the world.
Multimedia Educational Resources
- SDG 8 – Decent Work And Economic Growth - This video presents the need for citizenship to engage in efforts to promote decent work and economic growth
- Decent Work For A Better World - This video by the ILO presents how productive employment and decent work are key elements to achieving a fair globalization and poverty reduction
- Young People In The Workplace - This video helps students explore the issues around workplace discrimination. The activities help students to draw comparisons between the dramatised workplace issues and their personal experiences of difference and harassment.
Get Inspired
- Promoting culturally acceptable, socially just and ecologically sound education - The agro-ecological school of Pirque (in the Santiago metropolitan area of Chile) offers to young people 14 to 18 years old the possibility of obtaining a secondary school education diploma, then an agricultural technology diploma as part of its project for sustainable education. Focus is placed on the notion of diversity in education, which makes it possible to create an environment that allows students to thrive, both individually and collectively. The aim is to link professional opportunities with an ecological conscience, allowing them to find work straight after their studies. The school strives to ensure entry into the workforce
