Education as a dimension of human development: A Provincial-level Education Index for Ecuador

health, as they adopt healthier lifestyles −such as regular physical exercise, refraining from smoking, and undergoing regular medical check-ups [11, 12]. Education is also a right which was established in 1948 by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights [13]. Moreover, it is a key factor for improving people’s qual- ity of life. In addition, amongst other targets, the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) seeks to ensure that every child completes free primary and secondary education by the year 2030. This goal also aims to provide equal access to attainable technical training, eliminating gender or income-related disparities, and achieving universal access to quality higher education. Furthermore, education is behind the accomplishment of many other SDG, such as eradicating poverty–given that one of its many expressions concerns the diffi- culty of access to basic services such as education–and reducing inequality through greater investment in education [14]. As a result, education is widely recognized as an instrument which can help people to overcome poverty [15], improve their well-being and curb their dependence on social protection programs [16–18]. Income and work status depend on the level of schooling achieved, so breaking the continuing income inequality is essential to reduce inequality in education. It is therefore necessary to promote more equal access to the quantity and quality of education [7]. The Buen Vivir (Good Living) approach is grounded on the paradigm of human develop-

ment [19]. Indeed, it goes further by placing collective well-being above individual well-being (see, e.g., [20]). Most of its many meanings agree that the origin of Buen Vivir lies in the culture of the indigenous peoples and that equality and environmental sustainability are core princi- ples [21]. Buen Vivir–or sumak kawsay (in kichwa)–is a multidimensional concept [22] enshrined in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution [23], with equity being one of its principles [19]. The Ecuadorian policies of Buen Vivir are reflected in the Planes Nacionales de Desarrollo (National Plans for Good Living), which are the principal mechanisms of national political management [24–26]. These policies are geared towards bolstering individuals’ capabilities and potential by considering access to education as one of the central dimensions of well- being [27, 28]. The values of the Human Development Index (HDI) in Ecuador and, more specifically, those related to its education index increased between the years of the study (from 0.600 in 2006 to 0.695 in 2014) [29]. Thereby, they evidenced an improvement in educational well- being in Ecuador over the period analyzed. However, both the HDI and its dimension indices are national averages and therefore mask inequalities in the level of well-being within a coun- try [1]. Interterritorial inequalities are related to factors that heighten the inequalities between individuals or social groups, and they might also be linked to social conflicts. This is especially

true in the presence of weak political regimes [30], with the consequent deterioration of social cohesion [31]. This justifies the exploration of such inequalities at the subnational level [32]. Our work is in the line of research adopted by works that have estimated HDI values for differ- ent population subgroups [33–38]. Furthermore, understanding these differences will serve as a starting point for the achievement of SDG 10, i.e. the reduction of inequality within and between countries. In Ecuador, the “horizontal” inequalities between groups that have been established for cultural reasons [39] only exacerbate the risk of poverty and social exclusion. This is partic- ularly remarkable amongst the indigenous and Afro-descendant populations [40–42], as well as between the different areas of the country. Ecuador has four regions, three of which are continental (Costa, Sierra, and Amazonia). In contrast, the fourth region, the island region of the Galapagos archipelago, is on the Pacific Ocean. In turn, the regions are divided into provinces, which are the first-level political-administrative units. The geographical location of the population may stifle the academic achievement of children and youngsters, PLOS ONE Education as a dimension of Human development PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270932 July 8, 2022 2 / 27 Valladolid, Salamanca, and Burgos (Spain). Research project 061/092242 of the Fundacio´n General de la Universidad de Valladolid (General Foundation of the University of Valladolid). The funders had no role in study design, data collection

and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.” Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.