This week we review SDG 4 indicator 4.3 on quality technical, vocational and tertiary education 

As we travel through the SDG 4 data in this series of blogs, we have already looked at the all-important preparation for schooling and the minimum proficiency levels that tell us whether children are on track. Now we shift our focus towards the end of schooling: the technical, vocational and tertiary education that pave the way for a productive adult life.    

A disconnect between skills and job market needs

Learn about the indicators for 4.2 that assess whether children are ready to learn and have participated in preschool

I’m sure we all remember our first day at primary school. Our reactions may have varied from excitement to bewilderment. Some of us jumped right into the lessons with gusto. Some of us may have hung back a little, unsure of our ground. A lot depended on how prepared we were for what was – although we didn’t realize it at the time – one of the most important days of our lives.  

Let’s review Indicator 4.1.1 on learning outcomes

In the recent introduction to this series of blogs, Everything you always wanted to know about SDG 4 data indicators… but didn’t know who to ask, I flagged a dilemma facing researchers and statisticians: how to translate technical processes around indicators into comprehensible measurement?

New tools from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics chart a course for education stakeholders

One constant dilemma for researchers and statisticians is how to translate intricate technical processes, often emerging from intense scrutiny and discussion, into measures that are comprehensible and actionable for those who were not part of those discussions from the beginning.  

This week at the Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 in Bangkok, stakeholders will exchange ideas on how to transform learning. The first step lies in sound data systems to help governments respond to the demand for skills needed to achieve SDG 4.

As governments pursue Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education, with its strong focus on equity, are they embedding equity at the very heart of their national education plans? Recent research suggests that, in many cases, the answer is no, but it also highlights ‘honorable exceptions’: countries that are tracking equity in access to education and in learning.

Only a few of us may not have heard the clarion cries for equity or equality in education, with politicians and others calling for ‘equitable education’ or ‘equality of opportunity’ or ‘equal outcomes’, with such terminology often used interchangeably.