Background paper on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education

Abstract

In Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all), the instrumental importance of education for economic growth and poverty reduction is recognized. Education is also important in relation to the other goals. A host of social and non-market benefits are produced by schooling, including increased child well-being, health status, efficiency of consumer choices and social capital. In Africa, the positive spill over of schooling can also be gauged by the fertility rates of adolescents, which drop with increased access to secondary school. The present background paper provides aggregate progress in sub-Saharan Africa towards the achievement of Goal 4 and focuses on indicators that are currently available in sufficient quantity across countries within the continent. Those indicators include completion rates, trained teachers, learning outcomes, technical and vocational education and training, and equity. This will allow for the identification of gaps and emerging issues. The mobilization of the means of implementation and key policy recommendations are discussed below.