Reviewing SDG-4 in the Indian Context

Group Members

Introduction to the UNSDG-4

Education is a major steppingstone towards accelerated growth and development for any country. SDG-4 deals with ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong opportunities for all. Quality education, as the cornerstone of sustainable development, is inextricably related to the other SDGs, particularly Goal 17 (global partnerships for sustainable development), because achieving these goals requires collaboration between governments, corporations, and the social sector.

The pandemic in 2020, brought about tectonic shifts in the way education was imparted and challenged the way things were done. Covid-19 has erased 20 years of education gains. Basic school infrastructure required to build back is lacking in many countries.^[1] As a result, systemic adjustments are required to invest in high-quality teaching foundations, extend educators' horizons, and foster hybrid learning environments that combine formal and non-formal education.

Figure1: Primary Targets under SDG – 4 – Quality Education

Relevance for India

India has made significant progress with respect to both pre-primary enrolment and completion rates. Ten broad targets have been set for 2030 focusing on gender ratios in schools, relevance of the syllabus, quality of teaching and equitable distribution of available resources, upgradation of education facilities to make them child, disability and gender sensitive and increasing the supply of quality teachers.

The 2020 pandemic resulted in closure of physical schools and colleges replacing them with online modes of education. These online classes have diminished the effectiveness of education and the reliance on technology has resulted in a major part of the country’s youth being deprived of benefits of the classroom. On the bright side, the pandemic has accelerated the digital adoption rate and made it easier for formal education to reach remote areas.

Another major issue in India is the quality of the education imparted. There are government primary schools in India where 41% students cannot read, 74% cannot subtract in Class-6^[2^]. Although the literacy rate has improved from 83.2% to 91.4% from 1990 to 2016, the completion rates have fallen from 90.7% to 89.6% from 2012 to 2016.

To overcome the lacuna in the current education system, the government has launched several schemes over the years like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, supported by schemes on nutritional support - ‘Mid-Day meal’, training of teachers, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ for promoting education for young girls, etc. Figure 2 demonstrates the major developments in the Indian education system since independence.

Digital initiatives, such as the government's e-Basta platform, National Digital Library of India (NDL India) and SWAYAM PRABHA have helped in increasing students’ accessibility to e-books and high-quality educational programs at all times.

The Union Cabinet of India introduced the latest National Education Policy (NEP) on July 28^th, 2020. The NEP intends to re-orient the educational system to achieve twin objectives of inclusion and excellence while increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education from 27.1% to 50% by 2035 and targets a 100% GER in secondary school education by 2030.^[3] The target is to develop the early childhood education and care, and provide timely intervention to allow for multidisciplinary education that enhance the skills of students in areas of their interest. NEP also has the provisions for vocational program which aims at skill development that can practically be applied at workplaces. A higher coverage of schools in vocational education will mean a higher population with developed skills, that at present is deficient.

Major developments in Indian education system since independence:

Right to Education (RTE) 2009 - Article 21A which was inserted by the 86th constitutional amendment, that gives every child Right to Education, came into force in 2009. RTE promises free and compulsory education for every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years. The passing of the bill was a historic one for the children of India.^[4]

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016- As an amendment to the already existing Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, the act makes it illegal to hire minors under the age of 14. The amendment further outlaws the employment of teenagers aged between 14 and 18 in dangerous jobs and procedures, while also regulating their working conditions in the cases where they are not forbidden.^[5]These acts in conjunction ensure that every child gets free and compulsory education.

Figure 2: Major developments in the Indian Education System

Business Implications and Responses

Since the launch of the SDGs in 2015, businesses have increasingly aligned themselves with contributing towards their fulfilment. Engaging with SDGs has a wide array of benefits for the businesses like a strategic opportunity to expand sustainability initiatives and an opportunity to innovate and provide viable business solutions to societal problems. Businesses can use SDGs as a powerful tool to take structured action for future sustainable growth of the business and the society as a whole. Consequently, an increased focus on achieving SDGs by business enables social upliftment and nationwide progress.

As of 2021, the employability rates in India stand at 45.9% , following a downward trend since 2018.^[6] Major businesses have concentrated their focus on improving the quality and accessibility of education in India which in turn ensures a skilled local workforce, improves productivity, boosts economic growth, and contributes to the empowerment of people in the long term. Some examples of initiatives launched by companies that contribute to achieving SDG-4 are listed below:

Vodafone-Idea Foundation

Jigyasa - The project's scope includes building teaching capacity, introducing digital content in the classroom, and providing additional support to the existing digital infrastructure. Through its digital training tools and content, VI has impacted 12,000+ teachers, 2,00,000+ students in 26 districts across five states.

Financial Literacy – Jaadu Ginni Ka - This flagship program provides financial literacy content to people below the poverty line via a free Android app. The app teaches all aspects through simple storytelling and gamified activities. They have impacted almost 1 crore people in 16 states of the country.

Girl Child Education – Vidya Har Beti Ka Adhikar The project was implemented in Sitamarhi, Bihar, across three government schools. Under this program, tablets with preloaded digital content were distributed along with setting up of sports facilities, water, and sanitation facilities were part of developing the digital infrastructure and capacity building of teachers. ^[7]

Gurushala is an initiative ideated in 2012 that piloted a digital education program in 151 under-resourced and low-cost schools across the country. Gurushala also organizes G-NAT (Gurushala National Aptitude Test), which tests students and helps them to develop a future learning map for themselves. ^[8]

Amazon

Amazon has launched a community program that provides computer science education to over 1 lakh students of classes 6 to 12 from 900 rural schools. It will be rolled out in 7 states, namely, Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Telangana.^[9]

Amazon has also initiated programs like ‘Innovative Science Labs’, ‘Evening Tuition centres’ and ‘Coding Initiative at Pudhvayol community centre’ to educate and upskill students.^[10]

BAJAJ Auto

Bajaj Auto has two flagship projects, Bajaj Education Initiative (BEI) and the e-Learning Project, implemented by their NGO, Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha. Under BEI, they have helped 76 low-cost schools develop infrastructure in the regions of Pune. The e-Learning initiative has touched approximately 1550 schools across Maharashtra and Rajasthan.^[11]

Zensar

The RPG foundation was established in 2011 to focus on improving primary education in Maharashtra. They run Digital Literacy programs, skill development and employability enhancement programs every year for about 2000 students from Tier- 3 and Tier-4 colleges in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Zensar has launched an initiative called "Each one teach two" to make India digitally literate. ^[12]

Dr. Reddy's Foundation

The Dr. Reddy's foundation has been supporting several schools for the past 25 years in order to help children from marginalized communities receive better education. They have established 17 Pudami Schools, in neighbourhoods that lack government schools.

KARV JC- is a skill-development institute which helps people specialize in vocational skills to improve their employability.^[13]

Analysis and Suggested Path Ahead

Along with businesses executing their programs towards the improvement of the education system in India, the government needs to escalate efforts for the same. Stats indicate an education budget cut from about 99,000 crores in 2020 to 93,000 crores in 2021. There is a definite need to invest more in the education sector. There have, however, been initiatives like “Teach for India fellowship’ which allows individuals to volunteer and teach students in govt schools either on a voluntary or a full-time basis. Such initiatives have significantly helped reduce the burden on teachers in government schools. Schemes like ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ and ‘Mid-Day meals’ have helped increase the net primary enrolment rate from 83% to 98%.

However, a glance at the SDG-4 dashboard makes it clear that India is struggling even in accounting for metrics on all the 11 key indicators. India has data available only for the following three indicators, the long-term objective being achieving a score of 100.

Net Primary Enrolment Rate – The latest score available is 97.74 for the year 2013.
· Lower Secondary Completion Rate – The latest score available is 83.22 for the year 2019, with decreasing trend.
Literacy Rate – The latest score available is 91.66 for the year 2018.^[14]

Although the country is working on a few indicators, the scores look promising, but some reports suggest that these enrolments are not doing much to help children.^[15] The problem might also lie in the definition of the metrics. The definition of literate in India is- "As per Census, a person aged seven and above who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate."^[16] whereas the UNESCO’s definition includes proficiency in mathematics to some extent.^[17] Now, this brings to light the need for standardization and accurate tracking of the metrics. The formulation of policies must be followed by efficient implementation of the same to achieve the targets.

The need of the hour is to draw attention towards the shortcomings in the policies and take requisite measures to match up to countries like Finland, Germany, Norway which are among the top countries in terms of achievement of the SDG-4 goals. For instance, as per the 2012-13 data, the pupil-teacher ratio for primary schools in India is 34:1 whereas in countries like Norway it is 10:1. The latest tertiary educational attainment score for Finland is 41.82, Germany is 33.26, and Norway is 48.66.^[18]The tertiary education parameter is non-existent in Indian policies. National Education Policy has shown promise for improvement in tertiary education for the future but there is a wide scope of operation for both government and businesses to implement programs to help the country efficiently achieve its SDG-4 goals by 2030.