AMES & SDG 4

“Education is the foundation upon which we build our future.” ~ Christine Gregoire

There is no denying the importance of quality education in human development, and the international community recognises this with Sustainable Development Goal 4. 

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 integrated goals to be achieved by every country by 2030. For these global goals to be successfully achieved, collaboration with various organisations will be required. This is why AMES is taking steps to incorporate the relevant goals within our frameworks. This series of blog posts will show just how AMES is doing this with our programs. 

SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. AMES provides key education and skill development as part of our mission to enable successful settlement of recently arrived refugees and migrants. AMES English and education programs have a holistic approach which teaches skills for life as well as knowledge for successful settlement and social participation. Importantly, these programs help clients gain the knowledge they need to get a job, meaningfully contribute to society and hopefully live their best lives in Australia. 

The SDG targets most related to AMES education and skill development work include: 

• Target 4.3: Ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
• Target 4.4: Substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
• Target 4.6: Ensure that all youth and substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

KEY EDUCATION PROGRAMS 

Every AMES educational program and course is vital for building a better skilled workforce and educated society, but to list them all with their successes would defeat the purpose of a blog post. That being said, here are just a small fraction of the programs that were provided in 2018-2019.

As a service provider and supporter of the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), AMES recognises how important speaking and understanding English is for clients to effectively access services, work and social interactions. 

In 2018-2019, AMES assisted 606 clients in developing their English skills through AMEP. This links to SDG Targets 4.4 and 4.6, in building the skills required for employment as well as improving literacy for adult clients in general.

AMES is a key provider of the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business’s, Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program. SEE helps develop language, literacy and numeracy skills for clients to better access work opportunities.

This directly contributes towards SDG Targets 4.4 and 4.6 by increasing the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills for employment and in achieving literacy and numeracy. AMES delivered training to 797 clients with a 96% achieving learning outcomes as measured by the Australian Core Skills Framework (2018-19).

Our Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) programs take into consideration the needs of adults with barriers to education in the past and provides skills essential for finding a job. AMES delivered these programs to 3,765 clients with a 77.57% module completion rate (2018-19). AMES provision of ACFE links to SDG Target 4.4

SPOTLIGHT ON: AGED-CARE EDUCATION

AMES offers three Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses where, upon completion, students receive recognised qualifications to start or continue their employment journey in an industry with growing job opportunities. One of these courses is the Certificate III in Individual Support.

The course is designed to benefit those who have limited English proficiency, particularly targeted at those refugees or migrants who were not able to have their previous qualifications recognised in Australia.

To help foster better understanding, students ‘learn by doing’, with role-play and various hands-on activities to develop practical skills required for their future jobs. This links perfectly with SDG Target 4.4 in increasing the number of people with relevant vocational skills for employment opportunities.

Speaking passionately about AMES approach to teaching the often educationally disadvantaged students, Anita Mathews, a teacher for the course, says that: 
“100% of the time, those that get the job [at the end] are those that have the lowest levels of English [when they began the course].”

One student had to repeat all her assignments because of a relatively low level of English, but having completed the tasks 24 times made her even more successful at the aged-care job she attained at the end. Her determination and the push from AMES staff made her a successful candidate and she still works at that same aged-care centre.

When looking at the SDGs, the measurement of success is often based on whether a person can get a job, but there’s so much more that the completion of this course can offer. Getting a job is at the forefront of many students’ minds so that they can be financially independent, which is empowering in its own right.

Having a job means they contribute to the economy by not relying on Centrelink and other government support services if they were to stay at home and develop mental health issues. The sense of independence brings happiness to families, especially those that were disadvantaged upon arriving in Australia, so family connections are stronger.

Students also build lifelong friendships with each other by keeping connected through a group chat, often meeting up with each other. Overall, the course produces students who truly care about helping the community, with passion for care instilled in them by the wonderful teachers at AMES.

The initial course incites life-long learning for these students in fostering their ability to contribute socially and economically in Australian society, which encompasses the core of SDG 4.

SDG 4 is the foundation for a lot of the refugees and migrants AMES works with, as education programs provide those initial skills and knowledge needed for them to live as independent, successful citizens. This holistic approach is what makes AMES different from other education institutions. AMES is directly contributing to the achievement of SDG 4 with focus on key assets to Australia’s sustainable development into the future. 

Written by Taahira Rajudin and edited by AMES Research and Policy team