The 2023 SDG4 Scorecard shows how fast countries are progressing towards their national benchmarks. It is the start of a new annual series of reports that will be published on the International Day of Education (24 January) each year.
What are national SDG 4 benchmarks?
As this blog explains in more detail, national SDG 4 benchmarks are national targets that countries have set themselves to be achieved by 2025 and 2030 on seven key education indicators: Early childhood education attendance; out-of-school rates; completion rates; gender gaps in completion rates; minimum proficiency rates in reading and mathematics; trained teachers; and public education expenditure.
A key outcome from the Transforming Education Summit was to add three more indicators to the SDG 4 monitoring framework with associated national benchmarks on greening education, digital transformation and youth and student engagement in policy making. Work defining these indicators is ongoing.
Why are countries setting benchmarks?
National SDG 4 benchmarks serve multiple objectives. Most importantly, they help contextualize the monitoring of progress towards our education targets. Benchmarks recognize that each country has a different starting point but also that all countries together have been observed historically to progress at a certain pace. The benchmarking process challenges countries to commit to progress faster than if they followed these past trends.