Studies have constantly revealed the strong link between education and poverty. In many nations, income in a family is one of the most powerful indicators of academic and later-life success. Poverty has denied many people the opportunity to access quality education, at the same time, education has been long seen as the equalizer between the rich and the poor, whereby with good education, it is easy to break the poverty cycle. So, what effects does poverty has on education, and how can good education help end poverty.
Numerous individuals take education for granted, but it is something that many impoverished families must forego. It is well proven that kids from middle- and upper-class peers have a better chance of succeeding than children from low-income homes. With less resources and less attention on education at home, kids growing up in poverty are behind from the very start. The child’s stress levels are high because of his or her family’s poverty, making it very tough for him or her to concentrate on schoolwork. Kids from low-income backgrounds mostly fail to get an suitable education due to the stress of hardship, even if they are going to school regularly. The following are some of the problems that children from poor backgrounds face.
First, lack of funding for education, these families have to prioritize between providing for their basic needs or taking their children to school. They cannot manage to study materials, pay for tuition and uniforms, and provide basic needs. Also, sometimes the children drop out of school to help their parents out of the situation, and because they don’t have enough funds to keep them in school, which leaves them without literacy and numeracy skills, they require to further their professions (Rodriguez, 2020). Secondly, lack of training materials and trained teachers. Most of these children attend less funded schools, so they cannot afford to pay enough teachers leave alone the well-trained.
Also, they struggle to afford the tuition fees, so the chances are that they afford training material, which affects the quality of education they get. Compared to the other children from affluent families who go to top schools with enough infrastructure, well-trained teachers, and training materials. Poor children also come from poor neighborhoods, which most of the time do not generate enough revenue to fund the schools, resulting in overcrowding, poor infrastructure, and lack of enough personnel, leading to poor education (Rodriguez, 2020). Children from poor background are more likely to score low grades in their tests than students from wealthier backgrounds placing them at a higher risk of dropping out of school.
Education also is seen as the great equalizer and critical to escaping poverty and preventing the transmission of poverty between generations. Good quality education can combat the underlying structures of poverty. Education can offer access to employment, money, and skills that one needs to not only survive, but to flourish (Filenius, 2019). A commonly known resolution to the poverty cycle is providing access to better education and supporting child welfare. The following are some ways in which education can be a solution to poverty. First, Income and economic growth which is considered big factor in poverty. Someone who is educated has a positive effect on their Income and can also raise the rate of economic return on the economy.
People with higher education have an opportunity of getting good jobs with bigger salaries. When one gets a job after his education, they start consuming more goods and products which benefit the companies (“Child Poverty and Its Impact on Education in the U.S. – NCEE”, 2019). This increases the demand for production, thus offering work to more individuals, which helps the nation’s economy grow. Secondly, health and education will help end poverty because with basic education, we are able to learn about how to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, which in turn leads to healthier lifestyles. Health is very expensive, and it is one key to poverty, so knowing how to maintain good health can help us save a lot of money, reducing poverty.
Health education improves a family’s probabilities of survival and even decreases HIV and AIDS rates. Thirdly, reducing fiscal inequalities that continue to increase every day. The gap between the rich and the poor can only be filled by education. When children from low-income families get an education, they are able to get jobs which helps reduce income inequality. Lastly, education can lead to personal growth, which can help reduce poverty. Education gives people new ideas to improve their incomes and assist the national economy gather pace. Education helps individuals make the best out of themselves and explore every opportunity they get, which gives them Income hence reducing poverty.
In conclusion, it is evident that education and poverty are strongly connected. Poverty can lead to poor education, and education can help end the cycle of poverty between generations. Many people from poor backgrounds cannot access good education, which is why the government should ensure that every child gets a quality education by equipping all schools with the same resources and finances. It is also clear that countries doing better economically invest so much in education to maintain low rates of poverty.
References
Filenius, j. (2019). The Relationship Between Education and Poverty – The Borgen Project. The Borgen Project., from https://borgenproject.org/the-relationship-between-education-and-poverty/.
Rodriguez, L. (2020). Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier to Education. Global Citizen., from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/poverty-education-satistics-facts/.
Child Poverty and Its Impact on Education in the U.S. – NCEE. NCEE. (2019)., from https://ncee.org/tucker-writing/child-poverty-and-its-impact-on-education-in-the-u-s/.
write