Advancing Education as a Goal for Sustainable Development

This issue brief argues that an ambitious goal on education will be essential to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and should address not only the need for universal education, but also substantially aim to improve overall efficacy of education through a qualitative turn in framing education to provide sustainable well-being for all. The proposal for education as an SDG includes both quantitative improvements in availability and accessibility of education and also qualitative improvements essential for acceptability and adaptability of learning for sustainability.

Main messages
• Access and attainment of education are fundamental for human well-being, and should be a priority of the post-2015 development agenda as education is proven to accelerate achievement of several important development goals.
• For education to support the sustainable development goals (SDGs), however, an ambitious education goal that moves beyond broadening coverage and rather works to improve overall efficacy of education is essential.
• Addressing sustainable development through education requires a qualitative turn in how education is viewed and contextualized, as quality improvements produce more significant benefits and often require lower resource costs.
• An education SDG should include three dimensions: increasing access and attainment, improving educational quality, and inspiring transformative learning.
• Distinguishing these three dimensions in an SDG can help clarify that education is both essential for human development and achieving social change towards a sustainable future.