4. Quality Education

 

🌍 What Goal 4 Is About

• Core aim: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

• Why it matters: Education unlocks imagination, builds self-respect, and is key to prosperity. It enables upward socioeconomic mobility and helps break cycles of poverty.

🎯 Key Targets by 2030

• Free primary & secondary education: All girls and boys should complete free, equitable, and quality schooling leading to effective learning outcomes.

• Early childhood education: Equal access to quality pre-primary education so children are ready for primary school.

• Affordable higher education: Equal access for all women and men to affordable technical, vocational, and tertiary education, including universities.

• Skills for success: Increase youth and adults with relevant skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

• Eliminate discrimination: Remove gender disparities and ensure equal access for vulnerable groups (persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, children in vulnerable situations).

• Universal literacy & numeracy: Ensure all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy.

• Education for sustainability: Learners should acquire knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, peace, and global citizenship.

• Safe schools: Build and upgrade facilities that are child-, disability-, and gender-sensitive, providing safe, inclusive, and effective learning environments.

• Scholarships: Expand scholarships for students from developing countries to access higher education globally.

• Qualified teachers: Increase the supply of trained teachers, especially in least developed countries.

📌 Why It’s Important

• Education is directly linked to better health, reduced inequality, and stronger economies.

• It empowers individuals to contribute meaningfully to society and fosters innovation and progress

Target 4.1

FREE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

Target 4.2

EQUAL ACCESS TO QUALITY PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

Target 4.3

EQUAL ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL AND HIGHER EDUCATION

By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

Target 4.4

INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH RELEVANT SKILLS FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

Target 4.5

ELIMINATE ALL DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION

By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

Target 4.6

UNIVERSAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY

By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.

Target 4.7

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

Target 4.8

BUILD AND UPGRADE INCLUSIVE AND SAFE SCHOOLS

Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

Target 4.9

EXPAND HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

Target 4.a

INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.