An SDG Target 4.7 analysis of Benin 2030 National Education Policy and Post-2015 Education Strategic Plan

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Thurseday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Sustainable development and knowledge production

Proposal

An SDG Target 4.7 analysis of Benin 2030 National Education Policy and Post-2015 Education Strategic Plan
This paper is an analysis of Benin National Education Policy in light of Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG Target 4.7 stipulates that policy makers should: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”
In the overall framework of post Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) developments, the Government of Benin adopted the country’s 2030-oriented National Education Policy (henceforth, NEP) in October 2017. The NEP defines the main political and conceptual orientations for the national educational system. From this policy derive the fifteen-year Post-2015 Education Strategic Plan (Post-2015 ESP) and its subsequent operational components. The NEP is thus to be considered as a capital instrument in shaping, not only the educational system, but also the country’s future in that the school system is thereby entrusted with the mission of promoting and enhancing a culture of sustainable development.
Benin performed poorly for the MDGs and none of the goals was actually attained. As one of the many consequences, poverty levels increased by 3.9 points nationwide to 40.1 % but with a higher trend in rural areas (43.6 %) as opposed to urban ones (36.2 %). Benin is ranked 166 out of 177 countries worldwide in terms of human development with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.48 in 2017 (UNDP, 2018). According to the Benin Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014, only 44% of the population of women aged 15-24 is literate compared to 60% of men in the same age group. On the other hand, only 35% of young women living in rural areas are literate compared to 53% living in urban areas (UNICEF, 2016). These numbers show the close correlation between lack of effective education (literacy) on one hand and poverty and low human development on the other.
Through the NEP, Benin authorities have embarked, with the ambitious 2016-2021 Government Action Plan to reverse the country’s negative trend observed with the MDGs. In deciding to work towards a more effective attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Government of Benin is renewing its commitment to implement public policies necessary for the fight against poverty, illiteracy, environmental degradation, discrimination against women, etc. (Post-2015 ESP, 2018). Education is instrumental in national development and this commitment to perform more effectively with the SDGs constitute a fresh opportunity for Benin policy and decision makers to make up for the MDG weaknesses.
Our study first focuses on the current Benin educational policies that carry the potential to foster sustainable development. In the light of SDG Target 4.7, we will examine how the NEP orientates the national educational system to:
- Ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to achieve sustainable development;
- Promote sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles;
- Bring learners to respect human rights, gender equality, the culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
The NEP, as a policy document, is the conceptual/philosophical basis for the Post-2015 ESP. A cross reading of the NEP and the Post-2015 ESP furthers the analysis a step beyond into a review of the actual strategic planning application in the field of the upstream conceptual/philosophical development. Such analysis stemming from the conceptual document (the NEP) to its programmatic application (the Post-2015 ESP) through the lenses of SDG Target 4.7 will bring to the fore how far Benin is prepared to take up the challenges of the SDGs and accomplish them by 2030.
Keywords: Citizenship Education – Sustainability – Sustainable Development Goals

Author

• Moïse Emmanuel David-Gnahoui, Université d’Abomey-Calavi