Is global education advancing or declining?

The International Day of Education has been held every year since 2019 to celebrate and promote the role of education in achieving global sustainability. As one of the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), education (SDG4) is seen as key to achieving the others. 

SDG4 sets out 10 targets for global education to be achieved by 2030. They include free, quality education for all children; achieving literacy and numeracy for all children and most adults; access to safe learning facilities; and equipping all learners with the knowledge to promote sustainable development across the world. 

Slow progress

But despite its importance, the UN says that progress in global education has been slow. If it continues at its current pace, the organization warns, many of the 10 key targets set out in SDG4 are unlikely to be met. “Accelerating progress towards SDG4 should be prioritized as it will have a catalytic impact on achieving the overall 2030 Agenda,” it says. 

Expansion and inclusivity haven’t caused a drop in standards, we simply need to reframe the way we interpret the data

While the UN considers bringing education to everybody as a global priority, not everyone seems to agree. Speaking to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the director of the Education Area of the Esade Center for Economic Policy (EsadeEcPol), Lucas Gortázar, explained: “There are some who work in the education sector who believe that it suffers from universalization. From their perspective, they are angry at having such heterogeneous students.” 

But despite the skeptics, Gortázar insists that the quality of education is not declining. Expansion and inclusivity haven’t caused a drop in standards, he says — we simply need to reframe the way we interpret the data. 

Adjust expectations

In their book Educación Universal (Univeral Education), Gortázar and co-author Juan Manuel Moreno examined the advances and setbacks of global education over the last 250 years. An increase in access to education, they explain, means that more people are being assessed — so if figures don’t show an improvement in recent years, it doesn’t mean that progress is not being made. 

Spain offers a powerful illustration of the point. The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges, with data usually published every three years. 

In 2003, 70-75 percent of pupils were assessed. In 2015, around 90 percent participated. But despite the higher number of pupils, and taking into account a sharp increase in migration that saw an extra 800,000 pupils added to the education system, the results remained steady. 

Shifting dynamics

“There are some very powerful changes in migration patterns and fertility dynamics that have changed the structure of the population, we’re expanding the number of people in the picture, the education institutions have changed and yet the results are constant,” Gortázar points out in another interview with ElDiario. “This has to be taken into consideration — not to do so is not taking the issue seriously.” 

In the first years of education, teachers are frequently at the bottom of the scale in salary and status

The reputation of teachers and the value society places on the profession is another area that should receive attention, Gortázar says. Despite their crucial role, he believes teachers are undervalued and don’t get the recognition or remuneration they deserve. Rather than disparaging their efforts and achievements, he says, the profession should be protected and respected.  

This is a particular issue in the first years of education, where teachers are frequently at the bottom of the scale in both salary and status. And according to the OECD, improving early years is fundamental in improving standards and equality of opportunity, particularly for girls and low income families.  

A brighter outlook

Although universal education has experienced significant knockbacks that have slowed the growth of the 20th century — recession, the pandemic, violent conflicts — Gortázar prefers to adopt a more optimistic outlook. 

“Despite the fact that there are dictatorships, political control of the population, fear of expressing one's opinion or lack of freedom of expression, in most countries education continues to expand,” he pointed out. 

And although the UN may be pessimistic in terms of its 2030 goals, Gortázar believes the long-term outlook is much brighter. “If we look at 2070, how many people will have secondary education? How many people will have tertiary education? What will be the overall learning level of society? It will be much more than now. 

The growth may not be linear, but the expansion of education continues.