67.    Investing in education and training provides a direct channel to advancing the sustainable development agenda. It is widely recognized as a tremendously efficient means to promote individual empowerment and lift generations out of poverty, and it yields important development benefits for young people, particularly women.

68. Primary education for all, in particular, is a precondition for sustainable development. Despite real progress, we are still not on track to achieving Millennium Development Goal 2 by ensuring that all children, boys and girls alike, achieve a full course of primary schooling by 2015. Instead, 67 million children of primary school age remain out of school and are still not receiving a primary education. The gap is especially critical for girls, who as of 2008 still made up more than 53 per cent of the out-of-school population. Basic education is essential to overcoming barriers to their future employment and political participation, as women presently constitute roughly two thirds of the 793 million adult illiterates worldwide.

69.    The Millennium Development Goal on universal primary education has not yet been met, owing in part to insufficient funds, although other barriers exist. International means to supplement funds and support local and national efforts could help to overcome challenges such as teacher shortages and lack of infrastructure. The World Bank’s Global Partnership for Education provides one model to help countries develop and implement sound education strategies.

70.    While primary education is the foundation of development, post-primary and secondary education and vocational training are as crucial in building a sustainable future. Every added year of education in developing countries increases an individual’s income by 10 per cent or more on average. Studies also show that women in developing countries who complete secondary school have on average one child fewer than women who complete only primary school, leading to more economic wealth within families and decreased intergenerational poverty. Moreover, post-primary education based on a curriculum designed to develop key competencies for a twenty-first-century economy — such as ecosystem management, science, technology and engineering — can encourage innovation and accelerate technology transfer, as well as provide skills vital for new green jobs. Yet today it is estimated that fewer than a quarter of children complete secondary school.

71.    Simultaneously, a shortage of appropriate skills is projected to be one of the key barriers to sustainable development. Filling skilled jobs will require a new workforce and could draw on the capacities of young people and women, who are at present chronically underrepresented in these sectors: women account for only 9 per cent of the workforce in construction, 12 per cent in engineering services, 15 per cent in financial and business services and 24 per cent in manufacturing.

72.    Technical and vocational training is essential for growth and human capacity- building to meet labour market demands, including in sectors such as health, education and public welfare, where the lack of a skilled labour force can impede a country’s sustainable development.
73.    Training in all sectors has to be relevant, affordable, accessible and given by qualified and certified practitioners. It needs to be developed in coordination with the private sector to ensure that it is relevant to industry needs and that the credentials conferred are accepted by companies as sufficient qualification. Vocational and skills training must also be seen as a suitable alternative to other traditional education paths.

74. Recent years have seen an explosion of innovation in ways of delivering vocational and skills training, from entrepreneurial “boot camps”, knowledge- sharing and technology hubs and women-to-women business training, to mentoring programmes, youth apprenticeship schemes and research and exchange programmes. But much more concerted and large-scale efforts are needed.

Recommendation 4
75. Governments should consider establishing a global fund for education. This fund should be designed to attract support from Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, evolve out of the current World Bank Global Partnership for Education, and be tasked with closing the primary school education gap by 2015 so that there can be real hope for realizing Millennium Development Goal 2.

Recommendation 5
76. Governments should scale up their efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2 on universal primary education by 2015, and establish a goal of providing universal access to quality post-primary and secondary education no later than 2030, emphasizing the skills and knowledge needed for sustainable growth and jobs.

Recommendation 6
77.    Governments, the private sector, civil society and relevant international development partners should work together to provide vocational training, retraining and professional development within the context of lifelong learning geared to filling skills shortages in sectors essential to sustainable development. They should prioritize women, young people and vulnerable groups in these efforts.