Group7_C | SDG 4: Quality Education

Introduction

India, as a signatory to SDGs at the UN Sustainable Development Summit, had pledged to provide quality education ensuring inclusivity to all children by 2030 which came under the ambit of SDG-4 of the 17 sustainable development goals recognized by the UN. Working upon quality education has proved to be one of the most powerful tools for sustainable development which has been facilitated through high increase in literacy rates and around 50% decrease in school drop-out rates. Even in a developing country like India, quality education has been one of the most touched upon SDGs where any state or central government has attempted to bridge the gap between children from various levels of the socio-economical spectrum. Education is a tool that should be considered as a driving force to build an equitable and socially responsible society. Therefore, the inclusion of Quality Education as an SDG is critical for any country to work upon. It is one area that requires constant reforms to improve the literacy rate which even now stands below 80% in the country. The government has taken multiple policy initiatives over the past few years to improve the quality of education in the country and improve the literacy rate. Although the enrolment rates rose considerably through such schemes, a lot of work was still required to attract each and every eligible student.

A few unconventional ways were also undertaken by previous governments through the introduction of mid-day meals for all children to attract them to school, building Anganwadi Centres all over the country to provide supplementary nutrition and pre-school non-formal education for small children. The current government also came up with a reform in the form of New Education Policy (NEP) for introducing customizable education curriculum and focusing on skill development and vocational training of students.

The path for this commitment includes early childhood development care, pre-primary and secondary education, affordable and accessible skill-based training programs and tertiary education, university education focusing on employment, boosting entrepreneurship, eliminating gender disparities in education along with provisions for disabled and vulnerable students. Also, a focus on sustainable lifestyle, human rights, and cultural diversity would be a few of the key factors in achieving SDG-4 by 2030.

Relevance of the Sustainable Development Goal to India

Education is a catalyst that facilitates financial self-sufficiency amongst the population, boosts the economic growth of a nation, and uplifts the living standard of the people by providing better opportunities for a dignified livelihood. So, given India’s growth aspirations and the fact that millions of Indians are still subject to abject poverty, working diligently towards ensuring quality education for all is extremely important for the world’s fastest developing democracy.

More than 50% of India is below the age of 25. As a result, generating enough jobs for the burgeoning young population is a challenge. Education would be the distinguishing factor between India reaping rich demographic dividends or facing massive unemployment in the near future. To ensure the employability of people, it is crucial to ensure that everyone has access to quality education. Unsurprisingly, the United Nation’s Fourth Sustainable Development Goal of ‘ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all’ resonates with India’s needs and challenges in current times. 

The above discussed Sustainable Development Goal has attained significant importance in the Indian government’s policy formulation and political discourse. The recently adopted National Education Policy has a clear imprint of the influence of the SDG. The NEP has two-pronged objectives- to bolster inclusivity, and improve the quality of education in India. In keeping with the vision of the SDG, India has introduced multiple reforms in its education sector, including the introduction of mid-day meals to increase enrolments in primary schools and the Right to Education Act, 2010, which makes education a fundamental right for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

Furthermore, the SDG is particularly relevant to India because a commitment to the same would play a vital role in bridging the gender disparity between the educational opportunities available to both sexes. At present, the average literacy rate among men is 80.9% and among women is 64.6%.  

Business Implications

SDG 4 "ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all." According to research for the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, the growing market opportunities opening up by achieving the SDGs could be worth up to US$12 trillion a year for the private sector and could generate almost 380 million jobs by 2030. According to the World Literacy Foundation, the cost of illiteracy to the global economy is about USD $1.19 trillion. From the business perspective, a higher proportion of the population being offered quality education means a superior workforce and more innovation in industry and infrastructure. It means reduced social inequality and political uncertainty which reduces business risks and increases returns on investment. A better-educated population means greater economic and social power in the hands of the previously underserved and as benefits of trade become more evenly distributed. The current model is disruptive to many vulnerable sections of society. UNCTAD (2014) estimates the total annual SDG investment needs at around $3.3 to $4.5 trillion per year for developing countries. According to the Education for All Monitoring Report, "The annual financing gap between domestic resources and the amount required to achieve this ambitious target is projected at around $139 billion between 2015 to 2030."  To develop the global scale along every part of the value chain, more businesses need to follow the road to achieving the SDGs to give consumers, shareholders, and the government more incentive to follow a more socially inclusive and environmentally sound future.  

Responses


In India, the New Education Policy is expected to provide the workforce with relevant skills. In Budget 2020-21, the educational sector's allocation was Rs.99,300 crore and around 3000 crores for skill development which isn’t sufficient to match the current needs. Many businesses have made firm commitments to assist and are working to realize the goal of education.

 

Mahindra & Mahindra:

Project Nanhi Kali, supports underprivileged girls' education in India. The project's aim is to support girls who belong to low-income families so that they can complete their formal schooling, this project impacted the lives of more than 450,000 girls. Academic support and access to adaptive learning software via digital tablets were provided.

 

Microsoft:

Through its Airband Initiative, Microsoft intends to extend internet access to 40 million underserved people worldwide by July 2022. Efforts will initially be concentrated on Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa that also have a regulatory interest in solving connectivity issues. 


Capgemini:

Its Education Outreach programme ensures access to affordable and quality technical and vocational education for both the youth and adults. This year 7,797 young people were engaged under its flagship programme.


State Street:

State Street invests in high-performing nonprofit partnerships that support education, employability, and employment opportunities for disadvantaged individuals, helping them gain the skills and educational qualifications needed to secure sustainable employment.

 

Tata Steel Limited:

Tata’s project for the promotion of special education and vocational training for women, children, and differently-abled people to enhance their employment skills is expected to reach out to more than 9000 school children, 450 teachers, and ~5,00,000 community members indirectly.  

 

Asian Paints:

Project Naya Savera has been launched for school dropouts for education and training. It has provided them an opportunity to earn a decent livelihood. Foundation-building, digital literacy, on-the-job training, life skills, and career guidance are critical areas of focus. Over 28,500 beneficiaries were directly impacted in FY 2019-20.

Analysing the existing environment

With universal primary education, enormous efforts have been undertaken by corporates and governments to achieve universal primary education. As a part of SDG-4's primary goal to provide quality education, various targets have been set, focusing on providing equitable and free primary and secondary education, ensuring access to affordable technical and vocational education for both sexes, eliminating any gender disparities that might exist by providing free and equal access to all, etc.

With all the policies and work in place, on a global scale, while there has been an increase in the students enrolled in primary schools to 91% in developing countries, there is still an average of 51 million students who are out of primary schools, with around 50% of the out-of-school students living in conflict zones. In developing countries, 1 in 4 girl children is not sent to school.

 

Zooming in on India, there has been considerable progress in providing access to primary education, with substantial improvement in the enrolment and completion rate of children, both in primary as well as elementary schools, with a youth literacy rate of 94% for men and 92% for women, and net enrolment ratio of 100% in primary education.

The introduction of the government scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, with the goal of "achieving universal quality education for all Indians," also helps support the efforts with the introduction of schemes targeting higher education and training and providing nutritional support for students during their primary/secondary education phase.

With the efforts put into improving enrollment rates and increasing the literacy rate, India has been operating on a quantity centric model, which has paid off as is indicated by the numbers. But less focus has been provided to ensure the quality of the education provided. There is a noticeable difference in the learning outcomes at different levels, with a variation in student competencies. 

 

The way forward

 

While SDG-4 states, "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.", the path towards fulfilling this venerable objective may have little to do with education and may require a more holistic approach.

    Humans are naturally hardwired to learn and enjoy learning. What acts as an obstacle to such a pursuit is the high cost of attaining education vis-a-vis the perceived benefit. 

    Consider the following cases:

  1. Lack of gender sensitivity, as manifested in lack of separate toilets and water supply, is one of the reasons causing girls to drop out of schools in early teenage years, especially in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent. Education is a gender issue where the cost demanded based on one's gender is higher than what the person can pay.

  2. The Mid-day meals scheme in India, introduced for children's nutritional needs, has been a significant driver of increased attendance and retention in schools with improved learning outcomes. Education is an issue of economic strategy where a relatively small incentive can bring children to classes regularly. 

  3. Social stratification puts certain social groups at a considerable disadvantage. While affirmative action by the government, a political lifeline, has to a limited extent addressed higher education, it's too little and too late. Education is a social issue where many people are excluded from the functioning educational machinery based on social-strata.

  4. In impoverished households, the little money gained today by putting children to work becomes more precious than tomorrow's promise of treasures. A fixed source of employment for parents such as MGNREGA has been noted to support attendance and enrolment. Thus, education is a developmental issue where those struggling with primary means of survival see it as an extravagance.

Thus, the solution will inevitably have to address all areas of human development holistically to lower the total cost of education and bring it within reach of all. 

    The other aspect is the perceived benefit of education. This can be addressed within the realm of education. The crux of this approach is increasing the perceived direct gains from gaining an education. Some steps that can be taken in coordination with existing schemes are:

  1. Post-schooling employment-oriented vocational education with secure employment can help retain those with scant resources and bring immediate financial relief.

  2. Urban employment scheme on lines on MGNREGA and introduction of evening school under the umbrella of the act.

  3. Introduction of skilled work through employment guarantee schemes, incentivizing unskilled workers to gain education and skills.

  4. Provision of free books and stationery to students subject to minimum attendance criteria.

  5. Gradual building up of digital infrastructure to address the limited availability of good teachers and establish teaching assistants' position (on lines of ASHA) to address students' immediate needs.

The most potent weapon in this battle for quality education is social change. Immediate steps should be accompanied by a larger vision of social egalitarianism and greater acceptance of education among the most basic of human needs.

Authors: (Group 7 - Section C)

Devi S (BJ20136)

Gaurav Kumar (BJ20137)

Karan Dharni (BJ20143)

Nikesh Mahto (BJ20152)

Sreeja Ray (BJ20174)

Utkarsh Motwani (BJ20177)


References:


Sustainability Reports of Companies:


Other References:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Image
Introduction to SDG 5: Gender Equality One of the most important SDGs today is the Gender Equality goal. First of all, to think that we need a goal for such a fundamental human right such as Gender Equality is in itself a painful thing. The middle-east countries like UAE, Yemen, Lebanon, and Asian countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are amongst the worst-ranked in the world according to a Gender Gap Report published by WEF (World Economic Forum) in 2018 ( (Ahmed, 2019) 1 ) as can be seen in the figure below: There have been some improvements with more number of girls going to school and receiving education as compared to what the situation was 15 years ago ((UNDP, 2019) 2 ). But majority of the women across the globe still face discrimination on multiple fronts. There were only 74 girls enrolled for primary level education for every 100 boys in 2012. There are laws in at least 155 countries which hamper the economic opportunities women can get. And the glo...
Read more

Group 7_A | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Image
  Ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns Authored by:  Aparajita Rai BJ21013 | Deepak Sharma BJ21018 | Jishnu Purkayastha BJ21026 | Nikhil Gupta BJ21033 | Pranav Singla BJ21040 | Utkarsh Mani Tripathi BJ21059 | Zach Tom BJ21061 ( Image Source ) “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” -    Mahatma Gandhi Introduction to the SDG The world market thrives on production and the demand for consumptions is ever growing. But production of any good requires raw materials and other assets and facilities to process the final product. Generally, such raw materials come from natural resources and require labour. However, with production, waste is also produced. Also, a significant portion of the produced goods goes to waste due to lower consumption or due to the end of their usability cycle. Every year about one-third of all the food produced goes to waste and ends up rotting in bins, landfills, or streets. A similar prob...
Read more

SDG - Combat On Climate Change

Image
Introduction             The United Nations in 2015 adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) that it hopes we will achieve by 2030 through the collective action of all countries. The stated goal of SDGs, as envisioned by the UN, is to serve as "the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. SDG 13, in particular, focuses on Climate Action [1] . The global average temperatures in 2017 were 0.9°C higher than the mean of temperatures recorded from 1951 to 1980. The Sea level has been rising at roughly twice the pace of the long-term average. Both of these trends are worrying. As temperatures grow, the agricultural yields suffer, rainfall becomes less predictable, storms become more severe, and freshwater sources become stressed. All of this means that the prices of food will go up. This will affect all of us, but the poor will suffer the most. The same is the case with rising sea levels. Prese...
Read more