Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
When I was invited to contribute to the SDG 04 theme, it seemed like the easiest thing to ask of a teacher, having been in classrooms all these years, would be to comfortably write about the importance of quality education. But it's not a simple job, because it's not just a list of characteristics that can be applied and ticked off as soon as you've finished, like a shopping trip. Yes, there is a list of characteristics that make inclusive, equitable, and quality education possible, just as there is a list of aspects that make real education so far from the ideal. To start this conversation, we'll deal with the topic of quality first, without trying to solve problems, but rather bringing them up for consideration in a less pragmatic way.
Target SDG 4 reads as follows: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. It's not just about guaranteeing access to school in all its different forms, but ensuring that, while in school, the citizen's education is as complete as possible, so that they can play their part, from playing in early childhood to developing the skills to work and undertake in adulthood. Still, on the subject of the text, it can be seen that the structuring guarantees not only clarity about the goals to be achieved but also establishes a timeframe for achieving them and the tools to monitor the country's performance, as demonstrated by the analysis of its indicators.
According to the BNCC, a child, regardless of gender, who leaves primary education needs to have experienced and improved skills that ensure they recognize and understand others, understand the functioning of their body, the space they occupy and how they move, carry out activities that develop skills to understand the abstract and, based on this, know how to exercise orality and writing in a functional way, so that those leaving primary education will be able to perform better in primary education when asked to think creatively, logically and critically. Throughout primary education, socio-emotional, cognitive, physical, and linguistic learning will be worked on; in primary education, the different areas of knowledge will be worked on; and in secondary education, the focus should be on citizen training and the world of work, in addition to reinforcing the competences of primary education.
Looking at what SDG 4 provides for elementary school and what is established by the BNCC, these should receive students prepared for their effective participation in the learning process. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these spaces were designed to ensure that children were under supervision while their parents were at work. Many schools are not physically or humanly prepared to meet the needs established for an integral education. This creates a disparity when comparing the performance of students graduating from a public school with a private school. And even within the private network, there is an abyss in what is offered by schools that cater to different audiences, when we compare their purchasing power.
Regarding subsequent education for the 04-17 age group, SDG 4 stipulates that access should be given to technical, professional, and higher education, including access to universities or institutions at affordable prices, guaranteeing a greater number of young people and adults of both sexes with skills for the professional world, and from relevant training to jobs that guarantee them decent work, as well as entrepreneurial skills.
Thus, the United Nations' proposal for education is that it should be for the entire population and continuously. SDG 4 is organized into targets which, within the document made available by IPEA.GOV, are distributed into items 4.1 to 4.7 relating to guarantees for students and items 4. a to 4. c which refer to physical infrastructure for inclusive education, cooperation between countries and teacher qualifications. In this article, items 4.1 to 4.4 have been covered, as a brief introduction to the topic that will pique the reader's curiosity for further study.
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Waneyma Mendes
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