04/2023
Sustainable Development Goals (4/17)
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
In this number...
The INE is responsible for the statistical operation "Goals and targets from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", which was developed in collaboration with the statistical services of the ministries. Consult the results at: https://www.ine.es/dyngs/ODS/en/index.htm.
Through Goal 4, countries are committed to "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. This goal is broken down into ten targets related to the following: 1) ensure that all girls and boys complete primary and secondary education; 2) ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood care and development and quality pre-school education; 3) ensure equal access to quality technical, vocational and higher education, including university education; 4) increase the number of youth and adults who have the skills necessary to access employment; 5) eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for vulnerable people; 6) ensure that all youth and a significant proportion of adults are literate and numerate; 7) ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development; 8) build and upgrade education facilities taking into account the needs of children and people with disabilities and gender differences; 9) significantly increase the number of scholarships available to developing countries worldwide; 10) significantly increase the supply of qualified teachers.
The global framework contains 12 indicators for the monitoring of goal 4. On the national 2030 Agenda Indicators platform, 63 sub-indicators corresponding to 11 global indicators have been published. This represents a coverage rate of 92%.
Adult participation in learning activities
The European indicator Adult participation in learning activities (25-64 years) measures the proportion of 25-64 year olds who reported having received formal or non-formal education in the last four weeks prior to the survey. The data are from the Labour Force Survey.
In Spain in 2021, 14.4% of the adult population (25-64 years old) received academic education or vocational training. This represents a growth of more than 45% compared to 2015, when it stood at 9.9%.
The EU-27 average was 10.8% during 2021, an increase of 7 tenths of a percentage point compared to 2015.
The European country with the lowest percentage was Bulgaria with 1.8%, while the European country with the highest percentage was Sweden with 34.7%.
Did you know…?
The population aged 25-34 completing tertiary education (short-cycle tertiary studies, bachelor, master or doctorate) has doubled since 2000 in the European Union. In 2021, Spain is above the European average, with 48.7% compared to 41.2%. By gender, it is women who complete this academic level the most (in Spain, 54.4% of women and 43.1% of men).
Education and training parity indices
Sub-indicators 4.5.1.1 and 4.5.1.2 Parity indices of the population aged 15-64 who study academic education or vocational training between women and men and between rural and urban areas, respectively, measure the ratio of the proportions between the two groups who have undertaken educational activities (formal or non-formal) in the last 12 months. An index value equal to 1 (expressed as a decimal) implies full parity. The further the value of the indicator is from 1, the greater the degree of disparity.
The parity index between women and men has grown over the period 2015-2021 and reached its highest value in 2021 (1.15), indicating that 115 women study academic or vocational education and training for every 100 men participating in these activities.
The parity index between rural and urban areas has decreased since 2015, reaching a value of 0.86 in 2021, indicating that the percentage of adults studying academic or vocational training is lower in rural areas than in urban areas.
Completion of secondary education
Sub-indicator 4.1.2.2 Rate of population completing upper secondary education - ISCED 3 - measures the percentage ratio of the population aged 20 to 22 years old who have completed at least upper secondary education. The data source is the Operation of Educational Variables in the Labour Force Survey: Level of Training and On-going Training. This is a synthesis of information carried out by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training based on the educational variables collected in the LFS, as well as in Eurostat's Community Labour Force Survey.
In Spain, in 2021, 78.1% of people aged 20 to 22 will have completed at least the second stage of secondary education. This figure has increased from 68.7% in 2015.
Among autonomous communities, the Basque Country has the highest rate, with a value of 90.7%, while the Region of Murcia registers the lowest value, with 70.3%.
By gender, this percentage is higher for women (82.3% in 2021) than for men (74.1%), a gap that is maintained throughout the 2015-2021 period.
Computer skills in the adult population
Indicator 4.4.1 Proportion of youth and adults with information and communication technology (ICT) skills measures, for different age groups, the percentage of individuals who have used any of the basic computer skills in the last three months. These skills are: downloading and installing applications, changing the configuration of applications or devices, copying or moving files (between folders, between devices or in the cloud), creating presentations, spreadsheets or programming in some language. The graph shows sub-indicator 4.4.1.1, corresponding to the 16 to 74 age group.
Sub-indicator 4.4.1.1 has experienced a growth from 2015 with a value of 65.2% reaching a value of 76.2% in 2021, indicating the favourable evolution of the Spanish adult population in ICT training and use.
In 2021, Extremadura is positioned as the Autonomous Community with the lowest value for this sub-indicator, with 68.2%, compared to Community of Madrid, with 82.9%, showing a strong regional disparity in the ICT skills of the adult population.
Both sexes improved their ICT skills in the period 2020-2021, with the relative growth being higher for women than for men.
Measuring progress on Goal 4
Progress in Spain on the SDG 4 sub-indicators is presented, distinguishing between short-term progress (the previous year) and medium-term progress (since the latest year available compared to the previous year) and medium-term progress (since 2015, i.e. the baseline year). In both cases the compound annual growth rate has been used.
For indicators with positive normative direction (increases are desirable) we have: growth rates greater than or equal to 0.5% are considered progress (), rates in the range [0% - 0.5%) slight progress (
), rates in the range [-0.5% - 0) slight decline (
) and for rates less than -0.5%, a decline (
). For indicators that do not evolve,
is used.
For indicators with a negative normative direction, the categories are reversed.
Indicators 4.a.1 Proportion of schools offering basic services and 4.c.1 Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by level of education, register a value of 100%, so the situation can be considered favourable.
Among the 33 sub-indicators shown in the table, in the medium term, 10 of them are progressing favourably, two show slight progress, eight are regressing and 13 cannot be assessed due to insufficient data.
| Subindicator | Unit | Last year |
Last year’s figure |
Medium-term progress |
Short term progress (last two years) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1.1.1. Proportion of adolescents who, by the end of lower secondary education, have reached at least a minimum level of proficiency in reading | Proportion | 2018 | 76.80 | -2.9% | n.d. | ||
| 4.1.1.4. Proportion of girls who, by the end of primary education, have reached at least a minimum level of proficiency in reading | Proportion | 2016 | 96.60 | 0.6% | n.d. | ||
| 4.1.1.7. Proportion of adolescents who, by the end of lower secondary education, have reached at least a minimum level of proficiency in mathematics | Proportion | 2018 | 75.30 | -1.1% | n.d. | ||
| 4.1.1.10. Proportion of boys and girls who, by the end of primary education, have reached at least a minimum level of proficiency in mathematics | Proportion | 2019 | 65.40 | -0.8% | n.d. | ||
| 4.1.2.1. Completion rate of lower secondary education - ISCED 2 (population aged 18 to 20) | Percentage | 2021 | 96.60 | 0.2% | 0.4% | ||
| 4.1.2.2. Completion rate of upper secondary education - ISCED 3 (population aged 20 to 22) | Percentage | 2021 | 78.10 | 2.2% | 3.6% | ||
| 4.2.2.1. Total net school enrolment rate at 5-year olds | Percentage | 2021 | 97.30 | -0.1% | -0.7% | ||
| 4.3.1.1. Percentage of the population (aged 15 to 64) who study academic education or training in the previous four weeks | Percentage | 2021 | 24.11 | 4.1% | 16.5% | ||
| 4.3.1.2. Percentage of adults (aged 25 to 64) who study academic education or training in the previous four weeks | Percentage | 2021 | 14.36 | 6.4% | 30.5% | ||
| 4.3.1.3. Percentage of young people (aged 15 to 24) who study academic education or training in the previous four weeks | Percentage | 2021 | 76.97 | 1.1% | 3.9% | ||
| 4.3.1.4. Percentage of the population (aged 18 to 64) who have carried out educational activities in the previous 12 months | Percentage | 2016 | 47.70 | 3.0% | n.d. | ||
| 4.4.1.1. Percentage of adults (aged 16 to 74 ) who have applied at least one the computer competences collected in the last 3 months | Percentage | 2021 | 76.20 | 2.6% | 4.7% | ||
| 4.4.1.2. Percentage of young people (aged 16 to 24) who have applied at least one of the computer competences collected in thelast 3 months | Percentage | 2021 | 96.00% | 0.2% | 0.5% | ||
| 4.5.1.1. Parity indices (female/male) for the population aged 15 to 64 who study academic education or training in the previous four weeks | Expressed as a decimal | 2021 | 1.15 | 1.1% | 2.7% | ||
| 4.5.1.2. Parity indices (rural/urban) for the population aged 15 to 64 who study academic education or training in the previous four weeks | Expressed as a decimal | 2021 | 0.86 | -0.4% | 1.2% | ||
| 4.5.1.3. Parity indices (between upper and lower wealth quartile) for the population aged 18 to 64 who have carried out educational activities in the previous 12 months | Expressed as a decimal | 2016 | 0.50 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.5.1.4. Parity index (persons with severe limitations due to health problems and persons not limited at all) for the population aged 18 to 64, who have carried out educational activities in the previous 12 months | Expressed as a decimal | 2016 | 0.40 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.5.1.5. Parity index (persons limited by non-fatal health conditions and persons not limited at all) for the population aged 18 to 64 who have pursued educational activities in the last 12 months | Expressed as a decimal | 2016 | 0.80 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.5.1.6. Parity indices (female/male) for the population aged 18 to 64 who have carried out educational activities in the previous 12 months | Expressed as a decimal | 2016 | 1.00 | 21.0% | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.1. Proportion of population aged 16 to 65 achieving at least a fixed level in functional literacy | Percentage | 2012 | 72.30 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.2. Proportion of men aged 16 to 65 achieving at least a fixed level in functional literacy | Percentage | 2012 | 73.50 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.3. Proportion of women aged 16 to 65 achieving at least a fixed level in functional literacy | Percentage | 2012 | 71.10 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.4. Proportion of the population aged 16 to 65 which has achieved at least a fixed level of functional competence in elementary arithmetic | Percentage | 2012 | 69.10 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.5. Proportion of men aged 16 to 65 who have achieved at least a fixed level of functional competence in elementary arithmetic | Percentage | 2012 | 72.70 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.6.1.6. Proportion of females aged 16 to 65 who have achieved at least a fixed level of functional competence in elementary arithmetic | Percentage | 2012 | 65.50 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.7.1.1. Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment | Range [0,1] | 2020 | 1.00 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.7.1.2. Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in curricula | Range [0,1] | 2020 | 0.91 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.7.1.3. Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in teacher education | Range [0,1] | 2020 | 0.95 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.7.1.4. Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in student assessment | Range [0,1] | 2020 | 1.00 | n.d. | n.d. | ||
| 4.a.1. Proportion of schools offering basic services by type of service (and level of education)(*) | Percentage | 2020 | 100 | ||||
| 4.b.1.1. Gross official development assistance in the form of scholarships | Millions of euros | 2020 | 15.52 | -4.7% | -8.4% | ||
| 4.b.1.2. Net official development assistance in the form of scholarships | Millions of euros | 2020 | 15.52 | -4.7% | -8.3% | ||
| 4.c.1. Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level (*) | Percentage | 2020 | 100 |
(*) Indicators and sub-indicators with a value of 100% every year: despite not having a growth rate, they can be considered as progressing.
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