After a long process led and managed by Member States, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. This agenda, with its 17 comprehensive goals and universal nature constituted – especially in Sustainable Development Goal 4 - a broad agreement among Member States for inclusive, equitable and quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Seven years after the adoption of the SDG4-E2030 Agenda, we present the regional report Education in Latin America at the Caribbean at a crossroads. The SDG4-Education 2030 Regional Monitoring Report, which takes stock of SDG4 implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean, analysing achievements and identifying challenges to guide education policy decision-making in the next decade, and promoting achievement of the goals set for 2030.
Press release
UNESCO, UNICEF and ECLAC warn that at the current rate, Latin America and the Caribbean will not achieve the education goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The report highlights that while achievement with the education goals established in SDG4 of the 2030 Agenda was not assured before the COVID-19 pandemic, it is much less so now. The agencies emphasize that the targets will not be met without a change in the direction of policies and resource allocation for education.
Launch presentations:
- La encrucijada de la educación en América Latina y el Caribe (PDF)
- Education in Latin America and the Caribbean at a crossroads (PDF)
The Launch in Youtube
Regional highlights
1. In recent years, there has been a slowdown - and in some cases stagnation – in progress towards many educational achievements that advanced during the 2000-2015 period.
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2. Gaps in access to and completion of primary and secondary education have narrowed. But the differences by income, geographic area and gender remain considerable.
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3. Learning outcomes are stagnating, with a high percentage of students not achieving the minimum competencies.
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4. The expansion of higher education continues at the same pace as the period prior to 2015, but gender and socio-economic inequalities are increasing.
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5. After a decade of expansion, as of 2015 financing for education began a downward trend in the region.
Three partners for SDG4 monitoring
This report is a joint effort by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), the UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF LACRO) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The report responds to the mandate emerging from Regional Meetings of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean in the framework of SDG4/E2030. And it is part of the SDG4-E2030 Regional Steering Committee’s commitment to follow up on agreements reached and to learn from ongoing achievements and challenges.