Sustainable Development Goal 4 - Quality Education


“Education is a human right with an immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstone of democracy, freedom and sustainable human development”
- Kofi Annan
There is more knowledge on this planet than had ever existed before but as is the case with every other resource it is only accessible to a select few. There has been a rise in the nations on the issue of education with most of the nations globally making strides in attempting to increase access to education for all their citizens at all levels. This consequently saw an improvement from a measly 83.2% in 1990 to a much more impressive 91.4% in 2016 between the age 15-24[1]. This also acts as an indication of the fact that there is a rise in the equality witnessed in the domain of education, both domestically as well as internationally. The importance of education finds its roots in being a force multiplier- enabling people to be self-reliant, providing a massive boost to the economy of a country with an improvement in the skills of the individuals so educated[12]. The benefits of education spread with a rapid pace and see a domino effect with a causal chain being established thus resulting in the benefit of large mass of population[2]. With this importance of education in mind, providing universal quality education has been made a sustainable development goal. SDGs are set of 17 goals having 169 targets set by United Nations to be achieved by countries till 2030[13].

In India, with the insertion of Article 21-A in the Indian Constitution in the year 2002, the Legislature of India has provided due weightage to compulsory education in the age group of six to fourteen years with classifying the same as a Fundamental Right[14]. Thereafter, successive governments have come up with education policies of their own and they align with the SDG 4 goals of universal and quality education which would not limit itself to classroom but would extend beyond to a lifelong learning. Furthermore, the government scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is also complimented by other schemes thus providing an umbrella solution to an issue that has plagued the nation for long.

Need for SDG 4 in India:
The progress of India towards MDG (Millennium Development Goals)- 2, related to achieving universal primary education was encouraging. However, India has numerous challenges to surmount in order to achieve SDG 4 goals which has comprehensive educational targets including providing quality education, technical and vocational education, education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyle. According to Census 2011 report, literacy rate in India is 74.04%. But literacy level has wide gender gap because in males the literacy rate is 82.14% and in females it is at 65.46%. This has also to do with the cultural gender bias that exists in India. It restricts the mobility and access to resources by females at many levels.  Among people with disabilities the literacy rate is only 55%. The education level also has interstate gap in India, where states like Kerala standing at 93.91% to Bihar standing at 63.82%. [3] Currently Gross Enrolment Ratio of students in Primary education stands at nearly 100%. But According to ASER 2018 report 56% of students in Class 8 can’t solve basic Mathematics. Thus, quality of education also is a big problem for India especially in rural regions. The Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education in India is at 25.2% which is much less than nations like China which boasts a GER of 43%[4]. Providing quality education in India is also of paramount importance because it is related to achieving other Sustainable Development Goals. Through quality higher education, poverty can be reduced by meaningful employment. Providing quality education also makes business sense because companies are struggling to find skilled labor in country where every year around 11 million people enter workforce every year. Hence, access to education in both quality and quantity terms needs to be increased in a nation like India where two-third of population is below 35 years of age.
Business Implication
Corporations have, over the last couple of decades, have come to realize the fact that the investment in education can potentially bring long term benefits to their organization and society on overall terms. A study by KPMG reveals that in 2017, 37% of all the funds which were allocated for CSR went in the field of education. This figure, in itself, is an indicator of the increased focus of companies towards their contribution to knowledge. Among the notable contributors in India, Tata Sons, Reliance, Mahindra are some of the notable mentions.
Globally, Melinda Gates Foundation, LEGO, Levi Strauss, Facebook have undertaken several projects in the education sector, particularly in 3rd world countries. In this blog, we will limit our discussion to the CSR initiatives which companies like Amazon, R.P. Goenka Group, Mahindra have undertaken in recent times.
Amazon
Amazon has been a pioneer in CSR in several third world countries, particularly in South East Asia and West Africa[5]. Some of their key initiatives are:
  • Amazon Ignite initiative where it enables educational content creators to sell their products to customers at an affordable price. In this way, it is promoting a circular flow of knowledge wherein it primarily targets to enhance the quality of learning material available in the market.
  • Amazon Education Publishing allows us to publish content in multiple media types where you maintain creative control, own copyright, earn generous royalties and distribute the earnings to students and learners across the world. Users can also access free services from Amazon and its affiliates for independent publishing.
  • Amazon Inspire:  This is an open free service that assists educators worldwide to quickly search, gather, and share free and open educational resources with the community they are associated with.
  • AWS: More than 5,000 educational customers are registered on AWS Cloud to reduce I.T. costs, launch student analytical initiatives, and prepare students for STEM careers. AWS provides solutions which lower prices by scaling applications, responding quickly in an emergency, and meet the ever-changing requirements of the Gen Y students.
  • Amazon Catalyst: Amazon Catalyst gives funding, mentorship for impactful, solutions-focused programs proposed by students, faculty, and staff at some select universities. The plan was first launched at the University of Washington in November 2015.
  • Amazon Career Choice Program pre-pays 95% of tuition fees for employees to take up courses in in-demand fields, like airplane maintenance or nursing, irrespective of whether the skills are required for a career at Amazon. Till date, the program has been availed by more than 16000 employees across the world[6]
Apart from this, Amazon is involved in several other initiatives locally. As part of Amazon’s ongoing efforts in the area of education, they have recently tied up collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) to support both faculty and students by funding research grants in the Master’s and Ph.D. programs.
R.P. Goenka Group:
RPG is one of the major corporate houses in India. It has several initiatives in the field of promoting education. One of the most significant efforts in this field is the Pehlay Akshar initiative[7]. This initiative works with government school children for six years continuously wherein the intervention begins from the IV standard and continues until the IX the standard. With this project, the goal is to impart English language proficiency to children, thereby empowering them towards future employability. The spoken English skills will propel them towards an array of careers, and the practical reading skills will allow them to participate in the online employability opportunities. More than 65% of children in India study in government-run public schooling systems, which have low accountability and poor infrastructure. RPG Group, through this initiative, aims to work with the government-run schools to provide that infrastructural support build accountability and impart quality education.
One of the initiatives under, Pehlay Akshar, will be to train the teachers to help them create safe learning classrooms where they can appreciate, motivate, and engage young learners to participate and learn actively.
Education in Developing Nations
Since the past decade, there have been mammoth progress in achieving the target of universal primary education. The rate of enrolment in developing regions reached almost 91% in 2015, and the worldwide number of children dropping out of school reduced by almost half[8]. There has also been increase in literacy rates, and many more girls are in school than ever before. These are all remarkable successes. But this progress has faced tough challenges in developing regions due to high levels of poverty, armed conflicts, cultural gender biases and other emergencies. Especially in North Africa and Western Asia, the ongoing armed conflict between tribes is responsible for increase in the number of children dropping out of school. This trend is worrisome.

While sub-Saharan African countries made the greatest progress in primary school enrolment among all the developing countries, up from 52% in 1990, to 78% in 2012, disparities still remain[9]. According to research, children from the poorest households are four times more likely to be out of school than those from the richest. Similarly, there are high disparities between rural and urban regions. These facts point towards interlinkages between the SDGs. Hence it is essential that all the stakeholders such as government, international institutions, civil societies, businesses collaborate towards achieving all the SDGs.
Progress in 2019
According to the latest data, approximately 7 in 10 students in 72 developing counties were on track in atleast 3 for the following domains:physical development, literacy-numeracy, learning and social-emotional development.
Still, approximately 750 million adults, two-thirds of which are women remained illiterate in 2016. Half of the global illiterate population lives in South Asia and approximately a quarter in sub-Saharan Africa.
Majority of the developing countries still lack the infrastructure to provide quality education. Countries in the sub-saharan region face the biggest challenge as they lack basic amenities like drinking water, internet and computers.
Globally, the progress in training of primary school teachers has been stagnated to about 85% since 2015. This proportion in lowest in sub-Saharan Africa at about 64%[10].
Way Forward:
To ensure that no one is left behind, which SDG 4 emphasizes upon, there is a need for safe and inclusive environment with adequate physical infrastructure that nurtures learning for everyone regardless of one’s sex, disability or background. In addition to this, effective implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the initiatives taken by the government, such as “Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat,” Beti Bachao Beti Padhao,” Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan,” “Saransh,” “e-Pathshala.” Apart from these, some of the selected flagship programs in India and other countries like Bangladesh could be replicated across South Asia and African regions through regional cooperation. These best practices could act as trendsetters owing to their adaptability and pragmatic approach. It also provides scope for regional cooperation as sharing of best practices with each other can effectively combat cross-domain challenges.

Moreover, the NGOs should not just act as complementary to Government agencies. They should work on increasing general awareness regarding quality education and its importance in today’s context. We also need to address the issue of duplication of efforts, wastage of time and resources, and weak division of labors, which is caused mainly due to the lack of proper coordination among various programs. There are millions of children who still don’t go to school regardless of the RTE enactments in India. Under these situations, conditional cash transfers make sense unless the parents of the children are convinced about the positive outcome of quality education[11].

All the stakeholders relevant to SDGs need to act in tandem with each other since all the goals are interlinked. The State and Centre should work together to ensure equity in education outcomes and to create quality education. Moreover, they need to invest in quality learning and should focus on the importance of vocational and technical training. Safety and security of children should not be overlooked as they are pre-requisite conditions for education, and for that reason, adequate funds need to be invested in the education sector.

To analyze the progress made, there is a need to standardize and harmonize the data pertaining to education so that these indicators could be compared across all the countries and across all states, which will help in better assessment of the progress and achievements. This will also help in identifying countries and regions which are lagging behind and require more effort.

Finally, quality of education should also be increased through proper teacher training; promoting a curriculum which enhances the thinking capacity of children, teaching them to live in a culture of peace and cooperation among diverse people, and with their environment. As Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore has rightly said that the goal of education should not merely to give information but to live in harmony with all existence.
Authors:
1. Ankit Kumar Singh
2. Ankush Kumar
3. Chinmay Mundhra
4. Devagya Jha
5. Divya Mani Tripathi
6. Ravi Shankar

Group 8, Section A, PGDM (BM) 2019-21 Batch
References:
[1]https://in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-4/
[2]Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. (2015). Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: From Agenda to Action (pp. I-Ii, Rep.). Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00786.1
[3]http://indiafacts.in/india-census-2011/literacy-rate-india-2011/
[4] https://indianexpress.com/article/education/indias-gross-enrolment-ratio-in-higher-education-up-by-0-7-5012579/
[5]Amazon Education. (2019). Retrieved 3 December 2019, from https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000412651
[6]Dudovskiy, J. (2019). Amazon Corporate Social Responsibility: a brief overview - Research-Methodology. Retrieved 3 December 2019, from https://research-methodology.net/amazon-corporate-social-responsibility/
[7]Tree, T. (2019). RPG Enterprises | Pehlay Akshar | Education | Enhance Learning. Retrieved 3 December 2019, from https://www.rpggroup.com/rpg-foundation/programs/education/
[8] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg4
[9] https://www.sdgfund.org/goal-4-quality-education
[10] https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-4-quality-education.html
[11]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ris.org.in/newasiaforum/sites/default/files/Publication%2520File/DP%2520232%2520Dr%2520Beena%2520Pandey.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjvkvSfu57mAhXO4zgGHWFFCL8QFjACegQIBxAF&usg=AOvVaw0mvGEWym7OC_i5nZQ7gqu0
[12]Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. (2015). Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: From Agenda to Action (pp. I-Ii, Rep.). Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00786.1
[13]Kanie, N., & Biermann, F. (Eds.). (2017). Governing through Goals: Sustainable Development Goals as Governance Innovation. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: MIT Press. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1pwt5xr
[14]Lempert, D. (2017). Testing the Global Community’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Against Professional Standards and International Law. Consilience, (18), 111-175. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/26188797
[15]Khalid Rahman. (2016). Realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Need for an Indigenous Approach. Policy Perspectives, 13(2), 3-27. doi:10.13169/polipers.13.2.0003

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