POVERTY ISSUE IN
EDUCATION
Why is poverty a problem in education?
■ There is a enormous difference between the educational opportunities of an average
person from higher socio-economic class and a person from lower socio-economic class
enjoys.
■ Both the resources they obtain and the resources the government gives them are very
different. They are not given the teachers of the same quality nor are the schools they go
are provided with the same resources.
• Health
■ One of the problems is the health of the students. The students from the low SES class
will not be able to get the same treatment that the people from the upper-SES classes
receive.
■ Health problems such as lack of decent nourishment and untreated infections are seen
rampant among the poor students which staggers their academic progress.
– Malnutrition is an irrevocable condition which may effect the brain functions
seriously.
■ Unnoticed learning disabilities such as dyslexia are also a factor in the failure of some
poor students. The inability to reach or consult a doctor results with much of these
learning disabilities go unnoticed.
Lack of Private Tuition/Course Material
■ Most of the countries have an education system based on competition.
Scoring the most from the test is the primary goal of many students.
■ Regarding to this situation, students who have access to private tuition
or courses hold a significant advantage over the ones who does not
enjoy such privilege.
■ Even if we overlook the effects of private lessons on students, there is
still an another issue; course materials.
■ Students from low economic layer of the society, for the most of the
time, does not have access to course materials at all or have course
material of lower quality.
• Lack of Counselling/Support/Role Models
■ Children who grow up in poverty often face hardship getting professinal counselling
services for their personal life and career. This results with them getting hopeless
regarding to the future and the present issues they have to deal with which often leads to
dropout from the school.
– The highest dropout rates are observed among the lower economic class of the
society.
■ Counselling for the parents, to help the parents to be more supportive of the child’s
education is also in order since parents are the most influential agents in the child’s life.
■ Students from lower economic class often lacks any role models in their lives. As they
grow up and live in a environment full of unsuccesful people (regarding to career) they
can not get inspired or follow the path of a role model.
• Economic Factors
■ Many families do not have the financial resources to send their kids to the school. Even
in countries with free primary education this situation can be observed since from basic
stationery equipment to performance homeworks, there are many school related
expenses which discourage the parents.
■ Instead, families send their kids to work so that they can support the family or keep the
child at home to help with the house chores.
■ This results with many children not attending the school although they have access to it
phsically.
What are the effects of poverty on mental
development?
■ Poverty adversely affects mental development in both domestic and biological ways.
■ As mentioned before, students living in poverty might not eat regularly because of the
limited resources they have. This causes chronic hunger and chronic hunger affects
developing brain tissue negatively.
– According to the‘Children, food and nutrition’ report (2019) of Unicef, children
from third world countries (eg. Myanmar) have smaller brain tissue because of the
chronic hunger they encounter.
■ Apart from showing limited progress in academic field, this also leads to behavioral
disorders too. Children with “aggression”, “hyperactivity” and “restlessness” are more
commonly found in schools located in poor neighbourhoods.
■ Since many of the children from low economic background can not attend to preschool
education, they face considerable disadvantages.
-Preschool education provides an environment for children to explore, gain a sense of
self and build self-confidence. It is essential for the mental development of the
toddlers.
Present solutions around the world
■ Although poverty continues to decline in many countries, it remains a crucial barrier to
reaching the goal of universal primary education. To limit the effects of poverty on
education, several countries have implented their own solutions.
1. Financial Aid: Cash transfers to poor families, with eligibility linked to school
attendance, can help to counter the effects of poverty. Such a programme has been
successfully employed in Mexico, where it both improved enrolment and average
years of schooling achieved.
2. Nutrition Programmes: Early childhood nutrition programmes can ensure that
children are physically prepared for school. Children damaged by malnutrition are
more likely to start school late, learn less, and to drop out. In Kenya, for example, a
relatively cheap deworming programme improved school attendance by seven
percentage points.
3. Proper Schools: Ensuring that schools have the necessary teachers, resources and
infrastructure is essential. In Colombia, a programme to improve the quality and
relevance of education significantly reduced dropout rates. Flexible timing of classes
can also reduce the indirect costs of sending children to school
Our Solution
1. Providing proper counseling service, including the parents.
2. Welfare for the family in accordence with the student’s attendance.
3. Free nutritional food in school.
4. Presenting relatable role models.
5. Providing course materials for students in need.
6. Giving performance homeworks which require
computer or other expenses only if the necessary
materials are present in the classroom.
