SDG 4: Quality
Education
Goal: Ensure
inclusive, equitable quality education and promote life-long learning
opportunities for all
Education is the key to success and that which will
enable other SDGs to be achieved. Through education, most people are able to
mitigate the challenges faced in life and break the cycle of poverty. Education
therefore not only reduces inequalities, but also empowers people to live
healthier and more sustainable lives. The knowledge that is attained
through education helps open doors to a lot of opportunities and is
crucial to fostering tolerance between people which contributes to more
peaceful societies.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the largest number of children
out of school worldwide with more than half of the children living in SSA not
enrolled for school. Out of this proportion, women and girls have a harder time
accessing education compared to their male counterparts. Girls still face
barriers to entering both primary and secondary school and as a result, these
disadvantages in education translate into lack of access to skills and limited
opportunities in the labour market for young women. According to UNESCO, the
percentage of out-of-school children among primary-school-age children declined
from 40% to 22% in SSA between 2000 and 2012, however, despite this
improvement, studies show that many children do not acquire the basic reading
and mathematical skills with fewer than half of the students completing primary
education attaining the minimum proficiency levels in maths and reading. Lack
of trained teachers and the poor conditions of schools in many parts of the
world especially in developing countries greatly affect the quality of
education.
There is need to advocate for governments to place education
as a priority in both policy and practice and commit to providing free primary
school education to all including vulnerable and marginalized groups. More investments
are needed for resources that will be used to improve the conditions of schools
in developing countries.
SDG 4 at a Glance in
Kenya
Interventions (As of June 2017)
1.
The teachers service commission (TSC) has
employed more teachers and this has improved the teacher-student and
teacher-pupil ratio
2.
The implementation of the Digital Literacy
Programme (ICT Integration in Primary Education). This programme aims to
integrate ICT into teaching and learning for pupils in primary schools. In
2014, data from 65 developing countries showed that the average percentage of
schools with access to computers and the Internet for teaching purposes is less
than 40 per cent in more than half of sub-Saharan countries.
3.
Kenya introduced the re-entry policy in 1994; in
2009, the Ministry of Education (MOE), in collaboration with the Ministry of
Public Health and Sanitation launched the National School Health Policy (NSHP).
Both documents address dropout cases of young mothers who conceived while in
school;
4.
Upscaling of the sanitary towels programme which
enhance girls’ participation in learning. The amendment to the education act
states “free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels" must be provided to
every girl registered at school.
5.
Introduction of a Bursary Scheme to assist
selected secondary school students.
6.
The Ministry of Education recently launched a
policy on Education for Sustainable Development at all levels with them aim of
improving access to quality education on sustainable development at all levels
and in all social contexts, transforming society by reorienting education and
helping people develop the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours needed for
sustainable development
7.
Universities have held public lectures involving
stakeholders on various issues related to SDGs and are attempting to modify curricula
to reflect benefit to society
Article courtesy of UNDP, UNESCO
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