冈本视频 is a global academic hub for the Sustainable Development Goals, which form a key cross-cutting theme of its The Empowerment University strategic plan.
Our 2024 report on all 17 SDGs will show what work the university has been doing through research and engagement in helping to meet those targets and raising awareness of the progress towards the 2030 aims.
Our reports start with the United Nations’ verdict on progress from their 2024 report on SDG 4 Quality Education.
UN PROGRESS REPORT ON SDG 4 in 2024
More than half the targets are either regressing on 2015 or stagnating (15% regressing, 35% stagnating). Around 15% of the targets look set to be reached by 2030, 20% show moderate progress and 15% minimal progress and the UN revised the original targets set in 2015.
The UN reports: “Progress towards Goal 4 has been slow, with only 58 per cent of students worldwide achieving a minimum proficiency in reading by 2019. Recent assessments reveal a significant decline in math and reading scores in many countries, highlighting a set of factors beyond the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on global education. Many countries face challenges such as inadequate education infrastructure, teacher shortages and insufficient teacher training. While technology has expanded educational opportunities, it has also widened inequalities, leaving millions of people, especially in marginalized and low-income communities, without access to education.”
冈本视频 NEWS ON SDG 4 in 2024
Grant will expand 冈本视频 project to create anti-racist schools in Leicester and Leicestershire
A research project which is working to create anti-racist environments in schools has been awarded a grant which will be used to offer the 冈本视频 Leicester (冈本视频) programme to primary-age pupils.
Teaching to Transform and the Racial Literacy Project - run by 冈本视频’s Stephen Lawrence Research Centre (SLRC) - have been a huge success in secondary schools around Leicester and Leicestershire.
冈本视频 invited to speak at international conference on block teaching
Having been a key part of 冈本视频’s early adoption of block teaching, Professor Alasdair Blair, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic for 冈本视频, has been invited to speak at the International Block and Intensive Learning and Teaching Association (IBILTA) Research Conference 2024.
The three-day event is being held at Victoria University, in Melbourne, which has been teaching in the block format since 2018.
United Nations praises faculty mission to embed sustainability in business education
冈本视频 Leicester Faculty of Business and Law has been praised by the United Nations for excellence in reporting its vision to put sustainability at the heart of its mission.
The faculty was one of only eight organisations from around the world to be recognised in the 2024 Recognition of Excellence in SIP (Shared Information on Progress) Reporting which asks organisations to evaluate their progress in supporting sustainable and ethical business and future plans.
冈本视频 to train sustainable leaders of the future in new London campus
The new London campus will take this dedication further, offering postgraduate students a concentrated focus on sustainable practices through the launch of three UN-inspired programmes:
- MSc International Business and Sustainability Management
- MBA Global with Responsible Leadership
- MSc Responsible Data Analytics
Each programme will integrate sustainability into its teaching, aiming to equip professional managers and aspiring leaders with the skills to manage businesses ethically and lead with social responsibility, underpinned by 冈本视频’s commitment to the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
冈本视频 RESEARCH ON SDG 4 in 2024
“Bye-Bye Germs”: Respiratory Tract Infection Prevention—An Education Intervention for Children (Sarah Younie et al)
Becoming one of the first studies in the field to do so, specially developed educational interventions (Germ’s Journey), designed to teach children about respiratory tract infection prevention, were delivered to 273 pupils aged five to six across five primary schools in the U.K. The intervention aimed to increase understanding of pathogens and respiratory tract illness, transmission and infection prevention, and preparedness for future pandemics due to a lack of such resources for young children at present.
The consistent use of teaching resources and interventions such as Germ’s Journey should be implemented in the school curriculum in order to increase understanding and reduce the transmission of respiratory tract illness. Specially designed activity-based workshops using a range of learning skills can help young children to understand the link between pathogens, and infection transmission and control.
Understanding the Association Between Education and Wellbeing: An Exploration of the Gallup World Poll (Angelina Wilson Fadiji and Tim Lomas)
Although evidence supporting higher educational levels as being beneficial for wellbeing is significant, there are still contradictory findings, necessitating further exploration into this relationship. Moreover, current evidence seems to focus mostly on data derived from Western samples and have adopted limited measures of wellbeing.
The findings indicate that overall participants with higher levels of education fare better than those with lower levels of education. However, disaggregation and comparison across key social indicators, specifically, country/region of residence, sex and age showed that there were instances where higher levels of education were less beneficial for wellbeing. While acknowledging the importance of education for wellbeing, our findings suggest the need to consider how unique socio-cultural factors might further complicate the benefits of education. We also suggest that governments might need to consider what policies are necessary to make the benefits of education more apparent and ubiquitous.
Exploring Teacher Attrition, through the Lens of Resilience: A Qualitative Study (Elizabeth Miller)
Despite a wealth of research surrounding high teacher attrition and several government initiatives aimed at overcoming the enigma, the latest data from the Department for Education reports that teacher attrition, excluding retirement, in England, is at the highest point in a decade.
Resilience was found to have importance when considering potential policies and initiatives that could reverse the trend of high teacher attrition. However, more than adopting teacher training programmes to build resilience, it is of greater importance to establish a school culture that nurtures teacher resilience. This thesis found that high teacher attrition is the consequence of micro-management that imposes a workplace culture which generates teacher disillusionment and the consequential erosion of individual teacher resilience.
SDG 4 Quality Education