The sustainable development goals and education, achievements and opportunities

Abstract

This paper discusses how SDG4 augmented the aspirations contained in the MDGs for education, restoring some of the ambitions which had been articulated by the Education for All Process. The paper examines how much progress SDG4 stimulated, arguing that it yielded: a) progress towards the targets resulting from governments’ efforts, b) more ambitious priorities for development organizations, c) reporting on those targets by international organizations, and d) adoption of those targets to shape strategies of universities. The paper then discusses whether SDG4 is still the right goal, examining elements of the goal not yet included in the benchmarks which have been developed to monitor progress. Lastly the paper examines what is missing from the goal, suggesting that new global challenges –war and violence, democratic decline and challenges to human rights—require revisions to SDG4.