<figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
">


























</figure>





























































<figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
">


























<figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">

Dashboard map for 2022 SDG Index Goal #4 ratings. Data source: sdgindex.org

</figcaption>


</figure>

Participation rate in pre-primary organized learning (% of children aged 4 to 6)

This indicator defines pre-primary as one year before primary school entry.

Over the past decade, based on research, the recognition has grown as to the importance of early childhood education as among the most important for a child's development to help them thrive later in life.

Many of the countries off-track for the indicator are LDCs - the same countries off-track for the following indicators for primary and secondary schooling. More striking however are the middle-income countries off-track, in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as several post-Soviet states.

Summary:

For OECD country readers, annually give 0.7% of your gross income as aid, aiming for all children aged 4-6 to participate in pre-primary organised learning by 2030.

For developing country readers off-track with children aged 4 to 6, enter your child in early childhood education, where available and affordable.

Net primary enrollment rate (%)

This indicator measures the percentage of school-age kids enrolled in primary school, consistent with the singular target of MDG #2, aiming for 100% enrollment by 2030.

For MDG #2, the aim from the previous 15-year period preceding the SDGs focused upon universal primary education, which reached a primary school net enrolment rate in the developing regions of 91% by 2015. This was an increase of 8% from the beginning of the millennium, with a 20% rise in sub-Saharan Africa during the same period, but still leaving 57 million primary school aged children out of school worldwide in 2015.

As we saw above, the gap to 100% primary enrolment is small, though still in the tens of millions in total numbers. The countries facing major challenges on this indicator are consistent with the Sahel, as well as Syria and neighbouring Jordan, the latter in likelihood due to the presence of Syrian refugees.

Will aid alone make for a 100% net primary enrolment? If we regard the countries with major challenges for this indicator, there are other factors at play, complicating the path to universal primary enrolment e.g., disease, cultural attitudes toward girls’ education, and effects of climate change. As with all issues we’re looking at, each application in a different culture and environment entails trial and error, with the MDG period displaying the challenges facing development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Summary:

For OECD country readers, affirm your annual commitment to give 0.7% of your gross income as aid, aiming for 100% net primary enrolment rate by 2030.

For developing country readers with school age children, enrol your child in primary education, where affordable and available.

Lower secondary completion rate (%)

Here, the distinction is made between enrolment to completion, in this case lower secondary, rather than primary, again aiming for 100% by 2030. The 2020 world total shows a rate of 77% lower secondary school completion.

Lower secondary is the seventh to ninth years of education, with completion of the ninth year classified as ‘basic education’. Upper secondary education begins in the tenth year of education, before any tertiary education. Lower secondary education is a human right, enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by every UN member state except the USA.

You know by now what you must do if you’re a reader from a DAC member on behalf of the LDC countries with major challenges remaining on this indicator. But what of the middle-income countries? Many of the middle-income countries scoring red for this indicator are on the DAC’s List of ODA Recipients, and there are segments of the population in these countries affected by extreme poverty.

What if you’re a reader from a middle-income country, and your national government fails to ensure your right to accessible and available education, per the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

We all must observe this treaty on behalf of children, obliged to act in their best interests. This means to attempt to provide for your child’s basic needs, to ensure a life of opportunity and social mobility. Anything short of the completion of a basic education (primary and lower secondary education) risks dislocating your child from society.

Summary:

For OECD country readers, affirm your annual commitment to give 0.7% of your gross income as aid, aiming for a 100% lower secondary completion rate.

For developing country readers:

• For parents with children enrolled in lower secondary education, ensure your child completes lower secondary.

• For adults yet to complete basic education, complete lower secondary education.

Literacy rate (% of population aged 15 to 24)

The definition of literacy for ages 15 to 24 is the ability to read and write a short, simple statement on everyday life, with an understanding of this statement, aiming for 100% literacy by 2030.

We know from our Goal #4 results that LDCs have major challenges remaining, and we know the remedy for the LDCs on this indicator.

Pakistan, a middle-income country, should have a literacy rate above LDC countries. Pakistan’s Constitution codifies the obligation for the state to provide free and compulsory education for all. Yet 22.8 million children, or 44% of the population of school age, are out of school. How do the Pakistani government expect to see any economic growth with such a dismal literacy rate?

Regional differences are one reason, as is gender, a phenomenon popularised by Malala Yousafzai. Pakistan’s north-western border region with Afghanistan offered refuge to the Taliban insurgency, along with their accompanying attitudes toward female education. Further, literacy in the tribal areas of this region is low compared to the country’s metropolises, and national government spending on education is a disappointing 2.9%.

In a country with widespread illiteracy, can prosperity be around the corner, or ever be in reach? Pakistan is an Islamic republic (which differs from a theocracy), combined with a patriarchal societal structure. Pakistan thus leaves half of society on the sideline, when it could be participating in the economy, and educated to a tertiary level, beyond mere literacy.

Addressing any Pakistani readers, I acknowledge 5% of Pakistanis live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day. This country, with a population nearing a quarter of a trillion, is wanting. Yet the escalator to even a modicum of meeting basic needs, as well as climate change resilience, is education. Without advancing on Goal #4, Pakistan holds the potential to find itself in a similar standard of living in decades to come.

The nature of the country’s values places Islamic principles central, as the state religion, per the Constitution. Pakistani laws must be in harmony with the Quran, and th