World Economic Forum finds Shortage of Teachers Globally to Achieve SDG 4

Free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 is a constitutional commitment in India, a fundamental right of all children of the age group 6 -14 years. Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims for free, quality education for every child by 2030. Against this back drop the World Economic Forum reports that as per UN, the world needs 44 million new teachers by 2030. The shortage is already having significant consequences. Its leading to larger class size, overworked educators and extra financial strain on countries educational systems which can affect the quality of schooling children receive, it says. Sub-Saharan Africa is the area most affected by the shortage. This region needs 15 million new teachers this decade. But the teacher shortage is putting this SDG at risk. Without action, 309 million students will lack basic maths and literacy skills by 2030, just 1 in 6 countries will put every child through secondary school. It will cost around $120 billion to hire the additional teachers, according to the UN. It says countries also need to invest in teacher training, establish professional teaching standards and reflect teachers’ voices when creating policies. Early and primary schooling are vital for cognitive development and building key life skills. Investing in just one skill area - collaborative problem-solving could add as much as $2.54 trillion to global GDP. Employers worldwide are placing an increasing emphasis on interpersonal, social and emotional skills. The World Economic Forums Education 4.0 Taxonomy gathers three skills and values into one framework and provides guidance for teachers and policymakers on the evolving demands on the global workplace. How else can we solve the global teacher’s shortage?

??????????? Education is the cornerstone for progress of a society. In the Indian context, SDG 4 is vital and there is need to explore the current state of education vis-à-vis our strategies to promote inclusive and quality education across the thickly populated diverse socio-economic landscape. Our major concerns is for remote and marginalized communities, for girls and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Disparities in educational infrastructure, teacher quality, and learning outcomes consistently contribute to educational gaps. The Right to Education Act, 2009 has contributed positively to SDG 4 although. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)?and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme have gained popularity, its flawless implementation calls for introspections. Thus, quality of education, gender disparity, equity and inclusion, infrastructure & resources and optimum budgetary allocation needs thorough review.?

?????????? The UN Millennium Development Goal 2 was to achieve universal primary education. The MDG Report, 2015 says that the primary school net enrolment rate in the developing regions has reached 91 per cent in 2015, up from 83 per cent in 2000. The number of out-of-school children of primary school age worldwide has fallen by almost half, to an estimated 57 million in 2015, down from 100 million in 2000. Sub-Saharan Africa has had the best record of improvement in primary education of any region since the MDGs were established. The region achieved a 20-percentage point increase in the net enrolment rate from 2000 to 2015, compared to a gain of 8 percentage points between 1990 and 2000. The literacy rate among youth aged 15 to 24 has increased globally from 83 per cent to 91 per cent between 1990 and 2015. The gap between women and men has narrowed.? Likewise, India also showed good outcome. Yet, India lags behind even Bangladesh in educating the girl child and in many other social indicators (the GDP of India is three times to that of Bangladesh then). Sri Lanka had a better education system than India even though it has no private schools (Report April 2015 https://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-economy-amartya-sen-jean-dreze-human-development/1/287049.html). Here is India and her incomprehensible contradictions.? ?

???????? World Economic Forum reported in July 2019 on Bhutan’s Happiness Factor. Bhutan doubled teacher’s pay. Also gave medical staff big raise making both the professions among country’s highest-paid. The Himalayan kingdom values happy citizens and is famous for its Gross National Happiness Policy which prefers?a content population rather than economic growth to measure success. The pay hike was the idea of Bhutan’s then Prime Minister. The Government promised to reduce inequality and boost the country's health and education systems. Once, teaching had been one of the lowest-paid jobs in Bhutan's civil service. The Government’s initiative helped in recruiting quality teachers.

????????? Among others, in some of the remote places of North East Region, India the condition of Government schools, hospitals are miserable. There are some reports from a local electronic media from Arunachal Pradesh which substantiates this. Coincidentally, the State Neighbours Bhutan, yet seems not keen to learn from them. Let’s introspect on this more, after all, we are to ensure every child has a primary and secondary education. This is priority.

?Note: Author is Associate Dean in Anant National University, Ahmedabad & Mentor of IIM, Kolkata, Start-up, NER and former Regional Head, NER, KVIC, Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India, Guwahati????