SDG 4: Quality Education- Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Of all the many Nelson Mandela quotes I’ve heard, this has to be one of my favourite.
In the world today, education is a very necessary tool for development. Gone are the days when manual labour and population size drove economies. We are in times when intellectual capability is a major determinant for a country’s success.
It is quite unfortunate, that even with the immense importance of Education, there are over 240 million out of school children in the world. This is really concerning and there is a need to correct this aberration.
What is Education?
In recent times, the world is driven by information; knowledge is an invaluable resource.
But just having knowledge isn’t enough; you have to understand for to use it.
I see Education as the systematic process of knowledge acquisition and the ability to implement said knowledge.
UNESCO defines education as the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits.
What is Quality Education?
The fourth SDG is quite specific about its intentions; providing quality education for all. This means that education can be subpar.
What then is qualifies education as having quality?
Quality Education is concerned with a holistic approach to knowledge dissemination. Quality Education focuses on the whole child; the social, emotional, cognitive, mental and physical development of each student regardless of gender, race, geographical location or socioeconomic status.
Importance of Education.
The benefits of education is felt first by the individual, then their country and finally the world at large.
For the Individual
• For the person, exposure and employability are immediate benefits of receive doubt education. Have some form of educational attainment is requisite for gaining employment in our modern world especially for the white collar jobs.
Even for jobs where technical knowhow is key, some form of certificate is needed to vet the worker.
• There is a popular saying that the world is a global village. The rapid advancement in technology and science has made it possible for people from different countries and continents to interact.
Irrespective of language, race or religious beliefs, education is the bridge that connects us all.
It hence becomes imperative that everyone receives a form of education to be able to thrive in this fast paced world.
For a country.
• Economic growth: For a nation to thrive, people need to be gainfully employed. The greater the employment rate in a country, the faster that country’s economic growth.
Education increases the employability of the people. It also gives people the ability to experiment and be innovative in their businesses and enterprises.
• Awareness: “Ignorance is a disease” and “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” These two sayings summarise the problem faced by many developing nations. The high level of uneducated individuals is a major cause of many issues faced in these nations.
Things like high maternal mortality, spread of infectious diseases and engagement in harmful cultural practices like Female Genital Cutting can all be linked to lack of education.
The more educated a society is, the easier it is for them to move on from the aforementioned problems.
For the World.
• If education is more accessible world wide, the number of out of school children will reduce, the number of out risk youth will also reduce, the employability rates will increase and entrepreneurship and innovation will expand.
This will mean on the long run that many developing nations will have immense economic growth hence reducing their dependency on the first world countries.
Better education also translates into better healthcare systems, better government structures and ultimately a better world.
What can we do?
Building schools with proper curricula and facilities is majorly a burden the government has to bear. But what can we do as ordinary citizens to increase people’s access to quality education.
1. VOLUNTEERISM: In many developing countries, the number of educated teachers in comparison to students is really appalling.
Volunteering as a teacher in a school is a great way to help this situation.
2. DONATIONS: There are various NGOs and foundations that are concerned with helping children get quality education.
They provide the kids with books, bags and writing materials. Some even go as far as building infrastructure or renovating dilapidated structures.
By donating to such organisations, we help them lessen the gap and take a step further towards the goal.
3. CALLING OUT THE GOVERNMENT: Government policies are crucial to the kind of education a country has. In many developing countries however, the government neglect such an important sector.
It is our civic responsibility as the electorate to draw their attention to what’s most important.
The importance of education cannot be overemphasised. Let’s do our best to help every child receive quality education.
