Education is a human right – it empowers people to improve their political, social, cultural and economic situation. Every child has the right to a school education and every person has the right to have their basic learning needs met – throughout their lives. However, one in six children worldwide cannot attend school. Affected children often cannot read or write and have little education. They can later only hold low-skilled jobs and earn very little money on average. The reasons for not being able to go to school are manifold: the necessity to go to work at an early age, poverty and the associated inability to raise school fees, or a lack of infrastructure and thus no school in the vicinity make it difficult or impossible for children to acquire important qualifications and skills to be able to free themselves from poverty. Although schooling is compulsory in Germany, one in ten adolescents does not have an educational qualification such as a completed vocational training, Abitur or a qualifying school-leaving certificate, and around 6.2 million people in Germany cannot read and write properly. Creating better access to education worldwide lays the foundation for social justice and social participation.

Goal 4 of the SDGs is to be implemented through a series of measures. These include building or expanding educational facilities that are disability-, child-, and gender-sensitive and thus can provide a safe, non-violent, inclusive, and effective learning environment for all. The number of scholarship programs for developing countries is to be increased. This is to give more people access to higher education and vocational training, as well as specific science and technical programs. But no education can take place without qualified teachers. Through international cooperation in the area of teacher training in developing countries, the supply of precisely these specialized and qualified teachers is to be significantly increased.