Aligning Higher Education with the United Nations SDGs

Why in News?

• It has been eight years since the initiation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but the SDGs Report 2023 has flagged slow progress of goals due to various global reasons.
• India, despite having managed the crises of the global economy and relatively succeeded in overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic, has suffered a setback in achieving these goals. 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• The SDGs/Global Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
• The SDGs framework sets targets for 231 unique indicators across 17 SDG goals related to economic development, social welfare, and environmental sustainability, to be met by 2030.
• The 17 SDGs are integrated; they recognise that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
• Countries have committed to prioritise progress for those who are the farthest behind.
• The creativity, technology, and financial resources from all of society are necessary to achieve the SDGs in every context.

Key Highlights of the Sustainable Development Goals Report, 2023

• The combined impacts of the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, a gloomy global economic outlook and prolonged effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed systemic weaknesses and significantly stalled the progress towards the Goals.
• Of the approximately 140 targets that can be evaluated, half of them show moderate or severe deviations from the desired trajectory.
• Furthermore, more than 30 per cent of these targets have experienced no progress or, even worse, regression below the 2015 baseline.
• According to the report, the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic stalled three decades of steady progress in reducing extreme poverty, with the number of people living in extreme poverty increasing for the first time in a generation.
• If present trends persist, a staggering 575 million people will remain trapped in extreme poverty and an estimated 84 million children and young people will still be out of school by 2030.

India's Initiatives to Meet SDGs

• India follows a holistic approach for achieving the SDGs by implementing a comprehensive array of schemes.
• Current flagship policies and programmes of the GoI such as Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), PM Awas Yojana (PMAY), PM Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), etc.,have substantially contributed to India’s progress in this regard.
• Namami Gange Mission - a key policy priority towards achieving SDG 6,was launched as a priority programme with a budget of 20,000 crores for the period 2015-2020.

The Role of NEP 2020 in Implementation of SDGs

• A Foundation for the Achievement of SDG4
  • SDG4 pertains to access to quality education. Access to quality education is a prerequisite for the achievement of other goals.
  • India has a long-standing history of equitable and inclusive education. And it has accelerated efforts to ensure the achievement of SDGs through various reforms.
  • Among them, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 should be given credit to a great extent.
• NEP 2020 is Interconnected with Most of SDGs
  • NEP 2020 has been prepared in tune with most of the SDGs.
  • Though NEP 2020 calls for changes at all levels of education, priority should be accorded to higher education as it accelerates social mobility, empowers people through creativity and critical thinking, and grants them employment skills.

How Alignment of Higher Education with UN’s SDGs Will Help India Meet its Goals?

• According to the OECD data, people with a higher education degree are more employable and earn an average of 54% more than those who only have completed senior secondary education.
• Therefore, a university-inclusive education:
  • Better protects people against poverty (SDG1)
  • Prevents them from hunger (SDG2)
  • Supports them for good health and well-being (SDG3)
  • Promotes gender equality (SDG5)
  • Provides them decent work, which in turn drives economic growth (SDG 8)
  • And reduces inequalities (SDG10).

Suggestions for Universities to Utilise NEP 2020 in Achieving SDGs

• Strengthen Teaching-Research Combination
  • Universities should strengthen the research-teaching nexus in university education.
  • That way, students will become direct benefactors of the knowledge generated from research.
  • Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary systems of education produce multitalented people who can pursue research, and find innovative solutions to global challenges such as:
    • Affordable and clean energy (SDG7)
    • Sustainable cities and communities (SDG11)
    • Climate change and global warming (SDG13) as well as studying their impact on the economy and the earth.
• Development of Innovative and Start-Up Related Curriculum
  • Sustainable development is possible only if there is a radical change in the ways of production and consumption (SDG12).
  • To realise these efforts, innovative solutions and start-ups (SDG 9) must be developed in collaboration with private companies.
• Introducing Value-Based Education (VBE) will help citizens become responsible towards self, society, and the planet and help India achieve Life on Land (SDG15).
• Large Scale Collaboration Among Universities Across India
  • NEP 2020 demands that Indian higher education should be committed to mapping its day-to-day operations with SDGs.
  • Ranking universities according to the achievement of SDGs is a welcome move, but is still inadequate to meet the SDG deadline.
  • To accelerate the progress towards achieving the 2030 agenda, stakeholders of higher education should be educated and oriented so that none of their activities leave any SDG behind.
  • The 56,205 higher educational institutions and universities in India should work together.
• Promote Involvement of Universities in Local Community Service
  • Universities should play a part in the education, innovation, culture, and civic life of their local communities.
  • Community health, energy-saving measures, efficient resource allocation, waste reduction, development of local skills, as well as the sharing of services, infrastructure, and facilities with other universities or external partners should become a culture in universities.
• Universities Must Incorporate Sustainability in Institutional Strategy: It is high time for universities to adopt sustainability as a mantra and incorporate SDGs into their institutional strategies, both in daily administration and in teaching and research. 

Conclusion

• Every citizen must feel that the universities contribute directly to their well-being and nation-building.
• The higher education cannot work in isolation, it must be directly integrated with socio-economic development where each activity has meaningful and multiple impacts on SDGs.
• Therefore, educational institutions have to rethink their approach so that it is in tune with the NEP 2030 which will be crucial in realising the 2030 deadline for SDGs.

Q1) Are the Sustainable Development Goals legally binding?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not legally binding. Nevertheless, countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving the 17 Goals. Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes.

Q2) What is the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)?

The HECI will now set up a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. The same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards, to be applied to both public and private higher education institutions. The Government aims to phase out the affiliation of colleges in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.

Source: The Hindu