Ei-iE

AP / vide
AP / vide

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4

In 2015, all countries committed to achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Education International played a critical role in securing a stand-alone goal for education - Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Significantly, SDG4 recognised that quality education can only be delivered by qualified teachers.

However, at the current pace, governments will fail to achieve SDG 4. The COVID-19 pandemic poses additional challenges, and risks reversing years of progress on education. Urgent and decisive action is imperative.

Together with our member organisations around the world we are working to ensure that governments live up to their promise to achieve SDG 4 and all its targets by 2030.

  • We monitor progress and hold governments accountable.
  • We advocate for enhanced domestic financing for public education through fair and progressive taxation and international aid.
  • We oppose corporate interests that treat education as a market instead of a public good accessible to all.
  • We promote quality education that is free from violence, develops the “whole child”, builds tolerance, understanding, democracy, respect for human rights and active citizenship for sustainable development.
  • We promote the achievement of the “teacher target” (target 4.c), underlining every students’ right to be taught by a trained and qualified teacher.

Our work in this area

  1. News 28 April 2025

    Education International Asia-Pacific launches calls for quality climate education for all and demands increased funding for education

    Education International Asia-Pacific (EIAP) is organising a series of impactful activities from 28 April to 3 May 2025 in Kathmandu, Nepal calling for quality climate education for all and urging governments to increase public investment in education and teachers.

    Education International Asia-Pacific launches calls for quality climate education for all and demands increased funding for education
  2. Worlds of Education 28 April 2025

    Teacher compensation in South Sudan: The human cost of underinvestment

    Mading Peter Angong, Sarah Etzel, Whitney Hough, Mary Mendenhall, Kemigisha Richardson, Tiffany Tryon, Malok Mading Wol

    Teachers in South Sudan are the foundation of the education system, providing critical support in one of the most challenging environments globally. Despite their indispensable role, they face widespread financial instability, chronic delays in salary payments, and wages that are far below a livable standard. These issues destabilize the education...

    Teacher compensation in South Sudan: The human cost of underinvestment
  3. Research

    Teacher compensation in crisis contexts: Problems & paradoxes for paying teachers in South Sudan

    Mading Peter Angong, Sarah Etzel, Whitney Hough, Mary Mendenhall, Kemigisha Richardson, Tiffany Tryon, Malok Mading Wol
    28 April 2025

    Teachers are essential to upholding the right to quality education for children in crisis and displacement contexts, yet they often experience delayed, irregular, or insufficient compensation, leading to demotivation, absenteeism, and destabilization of educational systems.

    Teacher compensation in crisis contexts: Problems & paradoxes for paying teachers in South Sudan
    1. Research Paper
    2. Executive Summary
    3. Recommendations on government teachers
    4. Recommendations on incentive teachers
  4. News 25 April 2025

    Starting strong: Education unions mobilise for the right to early childhood education

    Despite its essential role, early childhood education (ECE) is undermined by chronic underfunding. Recognition of the importance of early childhood education, as well as the salaries, job satisfaction, working conditions, and status of ECE workers remain low. Meanwhile, private actors are working to take over the sector, filling the funding...

    Starting strong: Education unions mobilise for the right to early childhood education
  5. Worlds of Education 24 April 2025

    Teachers at the heart of climate justice: Addressing the crisis in Philippine schools

    Ruby Bernardo

    “These are not new problems; they are the result of decades of neglect in the education sector, now magnified by the escalating climate crisis. If we continue to ignore these urgent issues, our schools will remain not just ill-equipped for learning, but hazardous places for both students and teachers.”

    Teachers at the heart of climate justice: Addressing the crisis in Philippine schools
  6. News 16 April 2025

    Defending the profession and solidarity for educators in times of crisis, key for Education International members in Arab countries

    At the Seventh Biennial Education international (EI) Arab Cross-Country Regional Structure (ACCRS) Conference, top education unionists highlighted the need to develop partnerships, to show solidarity with Palestinian colleagues and people, support educator remuneration in crisis contexts, and expand the Go Public! Fund Education campaign for funding of public education systems.

    Defending the profession and solidarity for educators in times of crisis, key for Education International members in Arab countries
  7. News 14 April 2025

    Trade union delegation pushes for quality inclusive education for all at Global Disability Summit

    At the Global Disability Summit (GDS), the Education International (EI) delegation reaffirmed that inclusive education is a fundamental human right and key to thriving communities. They championed a social model of disability—breaking down barriers, not people. In the framework of the EI Go Public! Fund Education campaign, they also called...

    Trade union delegation pushes for quality inclusive education for all at Global Disability Summit
  8. Worlds of Education 27 March 2025

    Tackling the teacher shortage crisis in the Commonwealth

    Oliver Mawhinney

    44 million teachers are need globally by 2030 – a shortage that affects developing and developed countries alike, as demonstrated across the Commonwealth.

    Tackling the teacher shortage crisis in the Commonwealth
  9. News 25 March 2025

    Jamaica launches “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign amid critical teacher shortage

    In a bid to address the critical shortage of teachers and improve the state of education in the country, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) launched the Go Public! Fund Education campaign. The initiative aims to tackle the teacher shortage by enhancing educational infrastructure and teacher remuneration.

    Jamaica launches “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign amid critical teacher shortage
  10. News 18 March 2025

    United States: Trump administration slashes Department of Education workforce in continued attack on public education, teachers, and students

    As part of his continued attack on the right to education in the United States, the Trump Administration enacted a series of severe cuts to the Department of Education, including laying off close to half of the agency's workforce. The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s plans to gut...

    United States: Trump administration slashes Department of Education workforce in continued attack on public education, teachers, and students
  11. News 17 March 2025

    Championing education in Nigeria: Union pushes for better funding, improved working conditions, and safe schools

    In Nigeria, the education system faces numerous challenges, some of which from time to time make international headlines. As a country with a population of over 220 million people, the responsibility of providing quality education falls on the federal, state, and local governments. However, the implementation of sound educational policies...

    Championing education in Nigeria: Union pushes for better funding, improved working conditions, and safe schools
  12. News 10 March 2025

    Serbia: Union organizing results in more funding, lower tuition fees, and fairer salaries in higher education

    In a landmark move, Serbia has announced significant reforms to its higher education system, promising a brighter future for both educators and students. These changes, hailed as a victory for teacher unions and student activists, mark a pivotal moment in the country's educational landscape.

    Serbia: Union organizing results in more funding, lower tuition fees, and fairer salaries in higher education
  13. News 7 March 2025

    Asia Pacific: Renewed sense of unity and determination to defend public education

    The Education International Asia-Pacific Regional Committee met from 5- 6 March 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand to review the progress made over the past year and a half, and to set regional priorities in line with the resolutions of the 10th Education International World Congress.

    Asia Pacific: Renewed sense of unity and determination to defend public education
  14. News 26 February 2025

    Romania: The union struggle to improve the quality of education continues

    Despite financial challenges and teacher shortages in Romania, decisive union initiatives and significant reforms are underway to improve the quality of education. The Federation of Free Education Unions (FSLE) is sparing no effort to overcome obstacles and ensure students and teachers have a better future.

    Romania: The union struggle to improve the quality of education continues
  15. News 21 February 2025

    Palestine: International solidarity strengthens early childhood educators’ professional skills and their union

    With the purpose of enhancing the professional skills of early childhood educators in Palestine, the General Union of Workers in Kindergarten and Private Schools (GUWKPS) organized a series of four union-sponsored, half-day workshops focused on “trauma-informed education.” This training for Palestinian kindergarten teachers, focused on providing them with tools to...

    Palestine: International solidarity strengthens early childhood educators’ professional skills and their union