“Good teachers matter more than curriculum, the administration, or what students eat for
breakfast.”
Poverty Killing Students
Saberon, Rowena G.
Einstein
How does poverty affect the education of every student experiencing poverty?
Poverty, like a tree, has many roots. However, one element stands out among the myriad
causes of global poverty: education. Not everyone who lacks an education lives in abject poverty.
However, the vast majority of persons living in extreme poverty lack even a basic education. Those
who live in poverty are more likely to keep their children out of school, which means that their
children will have a higher risk of living in poverty as well.
Poverty affects a child's readiness for school in a variety of ways, including health, home
life, teaching, and neighborhood. Children from low-income homes are frequently denied the
stimulation and social skills necessary to prepare them for school.
If all children left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be pulled out
of extreme poverty. This equates to a 12% decrease in the global total. The Education Commission
estimates that learning improvements might cut absolute poverty by 30%.
5 Consequences of Lack of Access to Education
• Representation is lacking. To begin with, not having an education can have serious effects
for an individual's voice. It can stifle the development of abilities required to express oneself. This
is exemplified further by the continued subjugation of women in developing countries. These
women generally marry at an early age and must work to complete household tasks. Many
uneducated women struggle to obtain work in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
Furthermore, these women frequently cannot read or write and become overly dependant on their
husband's income. In the end, women's potential is harmed by a lack of access. Furthermore,
gender disparities in youth literacy persist in about one-fifth of the world's countries.
• Unemployment. Education is frequently used to evaluate employability in various countries.
These countries rely on educated workers to grow their economies and workforces. Employers use
these credentials to distinguish between applications and potential employees. Many groups
battling this issue now focus on educating the youth, as nearly 71 million 15 to 24-year-olds
worldwide are unemployed. Individuals who do not have access to schooling are more likely to fall
to the bottom of the job-seeking queue. Even a high school graduation can lead to a plethora of job
opportunities.
• Encourages exploitation. Because of their low education, many people are forced to work in
extremely dangerous jobs merely to make a living. Women and girls in underdeveloped nations, in
particular, frequently resort to various forms of exploitation in order to provide for themselves and
their families. Education can bring steady employment, but without it, people may struggle to
advance. Sweatshop labor, prostitution, and underage marriage are all forms of exploitation.
• Raising Children Is Difficult. When it comes to their own education, children frequently rely
on their parents; nevertheless, it can be difficult for a parent to support their child if they have
never had access to school. It is critical to comprehend how a lack of education might affect future
generations. Uneducated parents encounter challenges such as being unable to assist their children
with their homework or not knowing how to assist them in reaching their full potential. According
to the American Psychological Association, children of uneducated parents lag behind their
classmates in cognitive development and literacy skills. The consequences of this problem became
visible in 2014, when about 61 million primary school-aged children did not attend school.
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• The Poverty Trap Finally, a lack of access to a suitable education puts a person at risk of
sliding into the poverty trap. The inability to leave poverty owing to a lack of resources is referred
to as the poverty trap. This can also contribute to an intergenerational poverty gap, which means
that the children of those who are already impoverished are more likely to be at risk as well.
Education allows people to gain access to the knowledge they need to create a living. It is tough to
escape the trap without it. According to a Brookings Institute study, each year of schooling results
in a 10% boost in pay.
Citizens all around the world must take action to increase access to education in order to
avoid these five repercussions of not having access to education. Advocacy and campaigns have
the potential to effect positive change. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of education
once more because it provides many prospects for the future.
11 million children, or around one-nineth of all children in the United States, live at or
below the federal poverty level. 37 percent of poor students do not complete high school. People
who do not complete high school by the age of 20 are seven times more likely to be persistently
poor between the ages of 25 and 30.
Creating the low-income category 'Poverty' on a global scale was established after
WWII; it was not an issue before to 1940. The 'nature of the problem' is detailed in one of the early
World Bank reports, dating from 1948-9: 'Both the need and possibility for development are
vividly disclosed by a single set of facts.' According to the UN Bureau of Statistics, the average
income per head in the United States in 1947 was more than $1400, whereas it ranged between
$400 and $900 in the other 14 countries. However, for more than half of the world's population,
average income was less - and in some cases significantly less - than $100 per person. The extent
of this disparity indicates not just the critical need to enhance living standards in developing
countries, but also the immense opportunities to accomplish so.
With a historical perspective, some of the key causes of poverty were identified as
follows: poor households' incapacity to invest in property ownership. Education is insufficient,
resulting in fewer opportunities. In certain circumstances, limited access to credit is causing further
poor through inherited poverty.
One of the primary causes of poverty in India is the country's rapid population growth.
This leads to a high incidence of illiteracy, inadequate health-care facilities, and a lack of financial
resources. Furthermore, rapid population expansion has an impact on per capita income, making it
even lower.
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The only other way to eliminate global poverty is for everyone to have access to
education. Education can lead to a number of beneficial environmental activities as well as
increased economic statistics in any part of the world. Education is something that everyone on the
planet can appreciate and needs. Poverty in education must be addressed as soon as feasible.