Can we afford an inclusive, fair and lifelong learning environment in next 15 years? SDGs 4 (Education)
Original Article: Ms. Bai Yi-jiun
Translated by: Eden Social Welfare Foundation
At the end of September, during the 72nd Session of UN General Assembly held in New York, experts in education around the world gathered and discussed the issues on how current global education crisis is holding back millions of children and threatening progress. UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, emphasized the importance of education in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He sincerely asserted to the world leaders in the meeting that financing education is indeed the best investment we can make and the key to unlocking progress of all 17 SDGs.
Education enables human to practice basic human rights of improving personal skills, knowledge, and self-improvement after the need for environmental security and materials were met. Mr. Guterres pointed out in the statement that, based on his previous experience of teaching at schools and slums in Lisbon, it can be proved that: education is one of the basic human rights, for it can prevent poverty, initiate sustainable developments and promote world peace.
Let us take a closer look at the current state of “the most efficient investment”- education. “Today, 260 million children and juveniles are deprived out of education, and most of them are female.”
Mr. Guterres highlighted that we shall focus on the education of the girls in underprivileged countries, whose education are deprived because of gender inequality, social inequality and cultural violence. Furthermore, modernization is going through the fourth industrial revolution,” lifelong learning”, therefore, should be accessed by everyone in order to meet the rapid change in professional skill needs. Finally, the ethnic conflict takes place one after another after World War II, which forced refugees fleeing out of their countries, their lives are left unprotected, not to mention their education; the result led to millions of children deprived out of school. Education, therefore, becomes the most important human development goal for the next 15 year for the reasons above.
Over the past 50 years: Rights to education were not prevalent, and female were often left behind.
The argument on education is one of human right comes for a reason. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, pointed out that: every human being has the right to receive education, especially the elementary and fundamental stages of education shall be compulsory; the purpose of education is to develop personal personalities, build up the respects on human-rights and basic liberties. Education promotes understanding, friendship, and tolerance between countries, ethnics, and religions, with the aim of reaching and maintaining peace.
Compulsory education was only up to sixth-grade when the Taiwanese government moved to Taiwan from the Mainland. Until 1968, the Taiwanese government consciously protected its citizens' right to education and extend the compulsory education to 9 years, which considered as one of the “Taiwan Miracle”. However, by reviewing the change from world human right declaration, to Article 2 of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is obvious that make elementary education becomes the basic human right were not prevalent globally, even after a half-century of efforts through the end of 1940’s to the beginning of 21st Century.
MDGs Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
To ensure that children universally – including both boys and girls – will be able to complete a full course of primary education by 2015.
In the year 2009, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO), stated in a report that, at least 72 million children deprived out of school, and more than 80% of them were living in rural villages.
Photo Credit: akshayapatra@ Pixabay, CC0 Creative Commons
The gap between urban and rural areas created the circle of deprivation, for many poor rural villagers depend their lives on farming, working really hard on a self-sufficient life. However, the majority of farmers do not have enough time and support from their families to receive fundamental education, which caused the low literacy rate, un-able them to develop agriculture technology and increase productivity and income through the technology, not to mention their lack of ability in being part of policy discussion and democratization. Harvest results affect the manpower in the field; children suffer from malnutrition which may cause their death because of the loss in harvest during the years of disaster, the families become poorer, and the vicious cycle instigated which worsen the repentance of deprivation of fundamental education and unable them to genuinely put personal knowledge into practice.
MDGs began with “eliminate illiteracy” as its initial goal, after 15 years of effort, it issued the following result in The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015.
The net enrolment rate rose from 83% to 91% through the year 2000 to 2015 in developing countries, the number of out-of-school children decreased from 102 million to 57 million through the year 2000 to 2011, which almost decreased by half. The number of children “enrolled in” fundamental education in sub-Saharan Africa doubled to 150 million within two decades. More than that, juveniles’ literacy rate jumped from 83% to 91% through the course of 25 years.
When we were about to celebrate for the results above, some disturbing information hidden behind those appealing results can be noticed through reviewing Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR) issued by United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015
1. An extra $22bn (£14.7bn) a year was needed on top of "already ambitious" government contributions to achieving the SDGs by 2030.
2. By the end of 2015, about 100 million did not complete primary education. The report found that 52% of countries achieved universal primary education, but the world’s most marginalized continued to lose out. Conflict remains a steep barrier, with a high and growing proportion of out-of-school children living in conflict zones.
3. While the percentage of illiterate adults fell from 18% in 2000 to 14% in 2015, women continue to make up almost two-thirds of the illiterate adult population. Child marriage and early pregnancy are hindering girls’ progress.
4. Although “enrollment rate” for primary education had increased, but the precise number of children complete primary education were measurable precisely. At the same time, one-third of juveniles in low and middle-income countries do not proceed with secondary education after receiving the fundamental education.
5. Finally, the family financial condition still is the major factor that affects the children to receive the education. From the statics on primary education of 63 developing counties during the year 2008 to 2012, The world’s poorest children are four times more likely not to go to school than the world’s richest children, and five times more likely not to complete primary school.
In the post MDGs period, how to care for the children from nomadic and minority groups, who are suffering from child-labor, conflicts, disabled or those living in slums in the cities? Moreover, even those poor children have “fortunately” complete their primary education, a new method is needed for them to reach further education and obtain professional skills, for continue discovering innovative education methods.
Therefore, we entered into the era of SDGs, and the SDGs- 4 is the extension and promise on global education concept.
Photo Credit: Global Environment Facility @ flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Education concept proposed by SDGs: Tolerance, integration, and peace, to become a better person
For what stood up at the same period of the achievements and criticisms of MDGs was the Education for All Goals (2000), which joint-promoted by United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and The World Bank. It included six main education goals aiming to meet the needs for the education for every child, juveniles and adults by 2015.
- Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
- Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free, and compulsory primary education of good quality.
- Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
- Achieve a 50% improvement in adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
- Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
- Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure the excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
Photo Credit: akshayapatra@ Pixabay, CC0 Creative Commons
Reviewing the 6 advocacies, and looking back at SDGs-4’s ambition of “ Achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all”, and UN’s highlights on “Education Crisis”, it is clear that the education goals included in SDGs-4 are aiming at bring the contentment of primary education to a higher level of lifelong learning for individual future affordability.
