Like a tree, poverty has many roots. But among the many causes of global poverty, one factor stands out: education. Not every person without an education is living in extreme poverty, but most of the extremely poor do lack a basic education. Those living below the poverty line will also be more likely to keep their children out of school, which means that their children will also have a greater chance of living in poverty.
Education is often referred to as the great equalizer: It can open the door to jobs, resources, and skills that a family needs to not just survive, but thrive. Access to high-quality primary education and supporting child well-being is a globally-recognized solution to the cycle of poverty. This is, in part, because it also addresses many of the other issues can keep communities vulnerable. Let’s look at 3 ways education is the secret ingredient to ending extreme poverty, as well as a few facts around the value of an education.
The impact of education on poverty: Facts
Education is directly related to many solutions to poverty, including:
- Economic growth
- Reduced income inequality
- Reduced infant and maternal deaths
- Reduced stunting
- Reduced vulnerability to HIV and AIDS
- Reduced violence at home and in society
According
to UNESCO, if all students in low-income countries had just basic
reading skills (nothing else), an estimated 171 million people could
escape extreme poverty. If all adults completed secondary education, we could cut the global poverty rate by more than half.
The above points are some of the reasons that the United Nations named education its fourth Sustainable Development Goal. Let’s put this into context: Here are 3 ways that education affects poverty.
1. Education develops skills and abilities
A
quality education system supports a child’s developing social,
emotional, cognitive and communication skills. Education programs also
support the development of knowledge and abilities (i.e., human assets).
Children who receive quality primary education are more likely to
develop these assets at a higher level than those who don’t. They can
then use these abilities and skills to earn higher incomes or further
develop other basic assets.
2. Education can fight inequality
Before giving people more opportunities to participate in society, we need to address some specific obstacles to participation. Often the most vulnerable communities aren’t recognized as equals in their community. As a result, they lack representation, power, and status. But, at an individual level, education is a basic human right for all.
One of the biggest inequalities that perpetuates the cycle of poverty is gender. When gender inequality in the classroom
is addressed, this has a ripple effect on the way women are treated in
their communities. When girls are welcomed into the classroom, they can
build skills, gain knowledge, and socially grow during their formative
years. This establishes a foundation for lifelong learning.
One example of equality in education comes from Afghanistan.
There, Concern developed a Community-Based Education program so
students in rural areas can attend classes closer to home. CBE benefits
all students who may otherwise live too far from a school, but it’s
especially helpful for girls.
3. Education can decrease risk and vulnerability
In many of the countries where we work, the lives and livelihoods of the extremely poor are often tied into conflict, epidemics, and natural disasters. These can act as “force multipliers,” or elements that increase the likelihood that poverty will continue for the poorest countries.
But
knowledge, as the old saying goes, is power. Besides reducing
inequality, education can safeguard against vulnerability and risk. This
also reduces inequality. The ongoing Syrian conflict, for example,
threatens to leave millions of Syrian refugee children
a lost generation. Those living in Turkey are also faced with the
language barrier between Arabic and Turkish. Our work with Syrian
refugees in this host community includes language education so that kids
can then integrate into public schools.
In situations like war and epidemics, there are also psycho-social barriers to education. Many Syrian children living abroad are still processing the horrors of war. As a result, Concern’s work with Syria’s youngest refugees in Lebanon focuses on psycho-social support. Over time, helping kids to feel safe again will allow them to rebuild some of the social skills lost through trauma. They can then return to more academic-driven learning models.
Similarly, in Sierra Leone during the West African Ebola epidemic, many healthy children were quarantined for weeks at a time. This threatened their schooling as well as their social skills. Radio classrooms
proved to be a valuable tool when we couldn’t bring children together
in an actual school to give them a sense of connection and community as
they continued their studies. (We’re now in the middle of a 5-year pilot
program in Sierra Leone to provide a more inclusive and safe learning
model.)