The purpose of this assessment is to provide timely help. Without foundational skills, children cannot progress meaningfully in the education system. Not helping children effectively early in their school career has huge implications for equity and inclusiveness in each subsequent year and transitions as envisaged in SDG 4.
On 5th September, schools across India celebrated Teachers Day. A day that reveres teachers and education for a society to progress. PM Modi interacted with 800 students and spoke about the different facets of education and student-teacher lives.
Sustainable development goals to be agreed by world leaders this week include a commitment to ensure that all young people have access to good quality primary and lower secondary education by 2030. The goals include a pledge that no one will be left behind. Reaching these goals will require improved educational quality for the most disadvantaged children from the earliest years.
In the past, assessment results in education have been used largely to judge and grade. This use of assessment is consistent with the view that the role of teachers is to teach, the role of students is to learn, and the role of assessment is to establish how well students have learnt what they have been taught — and to grade them accordingly. When used in this way, learning assessments are often viewed as straightforward and unproblematic.
Alongside National Ants on a Log Day, Andorra’s National Day, and Bernie Sanders’ birthday, September 8 is International Literacy Day. This year, UNESCO has chosen the theme “Literacy and Sustainable Societies” to correspond with the upcoming adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations. And when it comes to learning, the SDGs mark significant progress over their forebears the Millennium Development Goals in that they actually have a literacy target: “By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.”
