In 2015, the international community came together to set new goals for development. These consisted of 17 main goals to be achieved by the year 2030. These goals are built to transform the world and lead it faster towards further development. Goal Four of the Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure inclusiveness and quality education for all and promote life-long learning.

The United Nations believes that global education goals are important to improving the lives of individuals, particularly in developing countries. This is essential as it would lead to sustainable development for future generations.

A lot of progress was made in terms of enrollment rates, particularly for girls. Basic literacy rates are on the rise and there is a general desire toward achieving universal education goals. The 2030 goals will further work on providing free, accessible and equitable education while removing disparities based on poverty, gender and skills.

At the World Education Forum in 2015, UNESCO adopted the Incheon Declaration. This declaration affirms the global community’s dedication to achieving global education goals. UNESCO is mandated to work and supervise the goals. This includes country level and partnerships with governments by involving multi-stakeholders into the process.

On the other hand, a study by the UNESCO discussed the student-teacher gap in different communities. The study found out that on the global level the gap was the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. To fill this ratio gap between students and instructors, 69 million teachers need to be recruited globally by 2030. Both regions mentioned above will need 32 million teachers alone.

This is the necessary number to meet global education goals. Currently, low pay is a challenge. However, an increase in pay is known to improve student performance. Thus, there are hopes in the international community to fund such an initiative.

– Noman Ahmed

Photo: Flickr