In SIDS, Structural Vulnerabilities Impede Progress on SDG 4 (Quality Education)
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the UN Resident Coordinators offices in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) prepared a new policy brief that investigates how structural vulnerabilities impede progress towards SDG 4 (Quality Education) in SIDS.
On 19th of September 2022, world leaders will convene at the UN Transforming Education Summit in New York to rethink education systems worldwide and revitalize governments’ efforts to achieve SDG 4 and all the SDGs as a result of enhanced human capital. The policy brief published by the SDSN in partnership with the UN Resident Coordinators offices in SIDS sheds light on some of the main challenges faced by SIDS in strengthening access to and quality of education and suggests some ways forward to support countries in their efforts to plan for more comprehensive and effective education, skills, and labor policies with a particular emphasis on the role of international financing and digital technologies.
Access to quality education and lifelong learning (SDG 4) is crucial to reach the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Education is an important enabler for many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ranging from no poverty and gender equality to health, education, decent work, climate action and peace, among others.
This policy brief sheds light on the relationship between structural vulnerabilities faced by countries (particularly SIDS) and their ability to achieve SDG 4 (Quality Education). Overall, a higher degree of structural vulnerability as measured by the pilot Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) prepared by the SDSN and the UN Resident Coordinators in SIDS tends to be associated with poorer performance on education at the country level. Highly vulnerable countries such as SIDS also tend to have lower capacity to invest in education due to fiscal constraints, among other reasons.
A high degree of structural vulnerability measured by the pilot MVI is found to be associated with high levels of population displacements, food insecurity, and brain drain, which negatively impact the capacity of countries to achieve SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work). Digital infrastructure and technologies could, in principle, help strengthen education systems and resilience in SIDS. Yet, the paper underlines how highly vulnerable countries tend to face persisting challenges in implementing the digital transformation with consequent negative impacts on educational attainments and quality.