Goal 4: Quality Education

What Goal 4 asks for

Goal 4 is written around learning rather than attendance, which is the shift that separates it from earlier education commitments. Its first target asks that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education that leads to relevant and effective learning outcomes; the last clause is the substance, because a country can put every child in a classroom and still fail the target if those children cannot read or do arithmetic at the expected level. The goal then extends the span of education in both directions: quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so children arrive at school ready to learn, and equal access for women and men to affordable technical, vocational and tertiary education.

The remaining targets deal with who gets left out and what is taught. One asks countries to eliminate gender disparities and ensure equal access at all levels for vulnerable groups, including children with disabilities and indigenous children. Another asks that all young people and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy, which makes adult education part of the goal rather than an afterthought. A further target covers the content of education, including sustainable development, human rights, gender equality and appreciation of cultural diversity. The implementation targets are practical: school buildings that are child, disability and gender sensitive and safe and non-violent, more scholarships, and a substantially larger supply of qualified teachers.

Goal 4 in India

India's central instrument here is Samagra Shiksha, an integrated centrally sponsored scheme that the Department of School Education and Literacy describes as treating school education holistically from pre-primary to class XII, aligned to SDG 4, and as the vehicle through which support for the Right to Education Act is delivered. It funds new and strengthened schools, classrooms and hostels, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas for girls, free uniforms and textbooks at elementary level, transport allowance, aids and appliances and stipends for children with disabilities, and special training to bring out-of-school children into age-appropriate classes. NIPUN Bharat, launched on 5 July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha, targets the learning problem directly: every child attaining foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, for the 3 to 9 age group, with a deadline of 2026-27. PM POSHAN supplies a hot cooked meal in government and government-aided schools, extended to pre-school Balvatika children, which is as much a retention measure as a nutrition one.

Two further programmes are worth naming because they map onto specific Goal 4 targets. PM SHRI, approved by the Cabinet on 7 September 2022, funds more than 14,500 exemplar schools intended to demonstrate the National Education Policy 2020 in practice. ULLAS, or Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, running from 2022-23 to 2026-27, addresses adult literacy for people aged 15 and above who missed formal schooling, across foundational literacy and numeracy, critical life skills, basic education, vocational skills and continuing education. Non-profits generally work where the system's reach is thinnest: early childhood learning before Grade 1, remedial and foundational learning for children who are enrolled but far behind grade level, retention of girls through the transition to secondary school, education for children with disabilities, and schooling for children of seasonal migrants, street-connected children and out-of-school adolescents who do not appear on any school roll.