Understanding the Importance of a Good Education

Every year, our Grade 6 students complete a Global Goals Action Project through their IB MYP Individuals and Societies classes. They begin by exploring the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—an ambitious roadmap created by world leaders to build a greener, fairer, and more sustainable world by 2030.

After learning about all 17 goals, each student chooses one that resonates with them personally to investigate further. Through dedicated research, they uncover the essence of their chosen goal: what it aims to accomplish, why the UN identified it as crucial for our global future, and the specific strategies being implemented to achieve meaningful change. Lewin wrote this article in support of Global Goal number four.

For my global goal, I chose quality education, because it seemed to be the most relevant to me, as I myself am a Grade 6 student at GNS.

A good, quality education is crucial for young children to young adults. There are many differences in the world, and schools and education are meant to prepare children for their future as adults, and to teach them basic knowledge so that they can survive and support themselves later on in life. But it is acknowledged that some people around the world do not have access to this amazing system because of many different issues and problems. This issue has caught the attention of many people who have since then persevered to enable everyone free access to not just an education, but a quality education (United Nations, “Education”).

Quality education is the fourth UN Global Goal. The UN states the principle of this goal to be: “To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (United Nations, “Goal 4”). They have raised awareness and have partnered with other organizations to try and make this goal attainable (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”).

But why has this goal not been reached yet? What obstacles stand in the way? There are many different reasons, but the main ones consist mostly of people having fewer opportunities than others because of something about them, or their personal background. This is a big cause for many other issues, but for no quality education, the main reasons include: Discrimination of ethnicity or race, financial weaknesses or poverty, gender, and because of disabilities that some people have (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”).

First of all, we have discrimination against a person, and a confiscation of education, because of their skin or hair colour, their culture, and in general, their ethnicity or race. In the year 2025, racism is still a large problem. Statistically, millions of people receive a poor quality of education, even if they can still afford the expenditure. Some areas and schools still try to ban or unfairly treat people of different races in their facilities, simply because of how they look or act based on their beliefs (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”).

Secondly, we have poverty. It is always important to be able to have a free or at least affordable education for all, so it should not be a costly expenditure to have a good, quality education. Some children cannot spend time on learning at school because they have to support their families or work in order to survive. Also, some countries which face financial hardship or a conflicted infrastructure only have expensive and costly schools, or even schools that do not have a good learning system for the students. It is important to still give people facing financially hard times the same educational opportunities as everyone else (Room to Read, “Impact and Reach”; United Nations, “Goal 4”).

Next, we have gender discrimination. People face discrimination all around the world because of their sex, or how they identify themselves as a person. Many women around the world face obstacles that they should not be fighting just because of certain “rules” or beliefs that spread a bad word about them. Around the world, 130 million girls are denied the humanitarian right to education (Room to Read, “2023 Annual Report”). Some countries, such as Afghanistan, have rules and restrictions against women and restrict their access to education because of their gender (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”).

Additionally, in most Sub-Saharan African countries, girls are behind boys in elementary and secondary school completion because they have more responsibilities. The average completion rate in Sub-Saharan African countries for boys is six per cent higher than girls (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”). Girls are sometimes expected to stay home from school because they need to take care of their families and do chores. They do not have time for learning. This all fits under one term: gender based discrimination, the belief that boys are above girls, and therefore should be treated better. But this is one of the world’s many wrongs. Males and females both deserve a quality education (Room to Read, “Impact and Reach”).

Thirdly and finally, we have disabilities. Children and young adults with disabilities usually face difficulties that others don’t. Many discriminate against people with disabilities because they are different. There is bullying, exclusion and unfair treatment. More than 25 percent of people with disabilities are reported to be bullied at school, and 37 percent of people with disabilities take fewer courses and get less experience because of their disabilities. This is why we need to help them instead of neglecting them. Eleven percent of people with disabilities end up leaving school early because of the bad experiences they have (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”). 

These are the most commonly known reasons why quality education is not available to all people in the world.

But it is far from impossible for us to completely stop the unfairness that occurs in terms of giving everyone access to an equal, good quality education. UNICEF is one of many organizations working to stop this issue (United Nations, “Goal 4”).UNICEF is a very reputable organization that works on many big issues around the world, and they hold global campaigns to get as many people involved as possible. UNICEF also works to create institutions that train teachers. And in partner countries, use a special fund for children’s education to create more schools and better facilities (United Nations, “Goal 4”).

UNICEF works across 190 countries and territories. They have helped to shrink the amount of lower-secondary children out of school between 2000 and 2020 by 35 million, and in that same period of time, have reduced the number out of school upper-secondary students by 43 million (Room to Read, “2023 Annual Report”).

This organization addresses several important factors of education: girls education, especially for those who have been discriminated against, a sturdy education source in emergencies or crisis, inclusive education with no discrimination, and education for very young children. They are also working to supply basic essential knowledge for students, incorporate the newly developing technology into the learning curricula, and strengthen schools’ learning communities (UNESCO, “Monitoring SDG 4”).

What can we do to help UNICEF with their outstanding work? UNICEF gives people willing to offer their aid the opportunity to help raise awareness using the UNICEF name, and has a UNICEF volunteer programme for those wanting to participate in the activities and campaigns planned by the organization. They also collect donations on the website, and every dollar goes to the organization’s fund for children’s quality education facilities, new schools and supplies (United Nations, “Goal 4”).

In conclusion, quality education is so important because every child needs it to survive independently later on in their lives. Even though big organizations are working to help they still find themselves with big challenges to overcome. I encourage people to chip in however they can so that we can reach a world where quality education is accessible to all.

Works Cited 

“Education.” United Nations Sustainable Development, United Nations, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/.

“Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations, United Nations, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4.SDG Resource Centre+1SDGs+1

“Impact and Reach.” Room to Read, https://www.roomtoread.org/impact-and-reach/.roomtoread.org

“Monitoring SDG 4 | Global Education Monitoring Report.” UNESCO, https://www.unesco.org/reports/gem-report/en/2024-monitoringsdg4.UNESCO

“Room to Read 2023 Annual Report.” Room to Read, https://www.roomtoread.org/2023-annual-report/.roomtoread.org

“Room to Read.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_to_Read.