Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Director of the UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office Ms. Marielza Oliveira noted that education is key to achieving all the SDGs. She highly appreciated Mongolia’s achievement in education sector and expressed gratitude for introducing new approach to educational services suitable for herders. In her presentation, Ms. Marielza Oliveira highlighted the link between progress in education and sustainable way of living, poverty reduction and economic growth that does not leave anyone behind. Investing in education will help raise climate change awareness, prevent violence, reduce crime, improve health, nutrition and gender equality, innovate and transform economies, providing skills for green jobs. For education to be transformative in support of the new sustainable development agenda, ‘education as usual’ will not suffice, she noted.

Minister of Education, culture, Science and Sports Yo.Baatrabileg delivered presentation on ‘Challenges and Implementation of the SDGs’. As reflected in the Government Action Plan for 2016-2020, Mongolia aims to provide every child with preschool education, develop secondary education system in line with international standards, ensuring quality, improve the vocational education and higher education system and develop lifelong education system. He also emphasized that Mongolia’s investment in early childhood education is among the highest rate in the world, according to the global report by UNICEF ‘A world Ready to Learn’. However, children of remote rural areas, suburban districts and newly settled residents still not fully enrolled in schools and kindergartens.

Following the presentations, representatives of the IPU member states shared the challenges they face in education sector, measures taken in this regard and their experiences in reducing poverty through education.