Shocking Effects of Poverty on

Education
By Dr. Patricia Fioriello

Poverty has been known to have core effects on education amongst children. It however has both
positive and negative effects on these children, though the negative ones far outweigh the
positive effects. Children from poor families receive a poor level of education as compared to
those in families that are well off financially.
In addition to this, chances of children in poor families enrolling in a class are dim, as the parents
may depend on charity or bursaries for their children to go to school. Even though parents from
these poor families strive to educate their children, these children get the lowest quality of
education, and eventually drop off from class. This is because the parents may not be able to
sustain the high price of education.

Like we mentioned above, poverty has both positive and negative effects on education. These
effects are discussed below.

Negative Effects of Poverty on Education

1) Low performance in class

According to a private research on a child’s performance based on their family backgrounds,
children from poor background tend to perform poorly in class. This is because their attendance
rate in class may be reduced due to the times they have to go back home for school fees.
Recovering from the lost time due to absenteeism is almost impossible, because the other
children have moved forward. Teachers too do not set exams considering the lost time or classes
that the child from the poor family lost. This means the child has a higher probability to chew
dust during exam times, as he or she hasn’t had enough time to prepare for the exam.

2) Low level of concentration among children due to

hunger
Concentrating in a class with an empty stomach is almost impossible. Children from poor
families may be forced to face the night without food, or even wake up and not have any
breakfast to take as they head to class. With an empty stomach, the child will not be able to
concentrate in class, and may even doze off in class. Although the child may be able to perform
even better than the other children in the class, these children cannot sail through to colleges or
even universities. This is one of the biggest effects of poverty on education that many nations are
experienced today.

3) Social fitness
Although a parent in a poor family may strive to educate his children, these children consider
themselves unfit socially from their peers in families that are well off. This is because the parent
may not be able to raise enough money to buy educational materials required in school to
enhance or make their education process easier.
If you visit a school with children from these two backgrounds, you will see a major difference.
Children from poor backgrounds isolate themselves from their peers, because they do not fit in
the same social class. This may affect the child’s performance in class. The children also suffer
from discrimination from the other children, which may make them drop out of school. For the
child to report back to school and be able to continue learning, he or she may need mentoring
and guidance. If he is not strong willed to deal with the situation, this then becomes the end of
his education.

4) Accessibility to educational institutions

Commuting from home to school can be a challenge among children from poor backgrounds.
Under most circumstances, most children are forced to walk to and from school, thus making it
difficult to continue with education. This tends to kill many of these children’s hopes and
dreams, as many fall back one after the other. It requires determination for one to go on attending
classes day in, day out.

5) Inability to pay school fees

It is the core problem that many families experience while educating their children. Although the
parent may strive to come up with enough money to educate his children, paying up the school
fees eventually becomes a burden and the children are forced out of the class. If the parent does
not find a funding program to support his children to continue with their education, it then
becomes the end of it. To curb these and other effects of poverty on education, most
governments, as well as schools have implemented plans to support better performing children
continue with their education.

6) Poor living environments

Low end income earners are often forced to live in areas where crime rate is high. These living
environments do not favor education, and this forces the children to join local gangs. Distraction
from these living environments also makes it hard for the child to concentrate on homework or
evening studies. It thus affects his or her productivity in class.
Positive Effects of Poverty on Education
Having discussed the negative effects of poverty on education, in your opinion what
would be the positive effect of it? State your answer below.

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