2023 SDG 4 scorecard report on progress towards national SDG 4 benchmarks
Three in four countries have submitted benchmarks, or national targets, to be achieved by 2025 and 2030 for at least some of seven SDG 4 indicators: early childhood education attendance; out-of-school rates; completion rates; gender gaps in completion rates; minimum proficiency rates in reading and mathematics; trained teachers; and public education expenditure. This process, supported by the UIS and the GEM Report, responds to the Education 2030 Framework for Action which had called on countries to establish ‘appropriate intermediate benchmarks … for addressing the accountability deficit associated with longer-term targets’. This report provides the first annual snapshot of country progress towards these national targets.
An analysis of historical progress rates between 2000 and 2015 from each country’s starting point provides the context against which recent progress is being assessed. The analysis maps the past average progress of fast- and slow-moving countries against different starting points, indicating what ambitious but feasible trajectories might look like.
The report also contributes to one of the main objectives of the national SDG 4 benchmarking process, which is connecting progress to specific policies. This report focuses on one benchmark indicator, the participation rate in organized learning one year before primary. Countries’ progress is discussed with reference to policies related to free and compulsory pre-primary education legislation, private provider regulation and public education expenditure.
Q&A: What you need to know about the new 2023 SDG 4 Scorecard
