Not every child is lucky enough to come from an industrialised and developed country. According to the Financial Times, approximately 1.3 billion people around the world are considered multidimensionally poor, and half of those are children. This means that they don’t have immediate access to basic necessities such as clean water or nutritious food, and have a higher chance of experiencing poor future financial outcomes.
Thankfully, there are numerous humanitarian organisations that are making it their mission to uplift poverty-stricken children through education. One such organisation, Bridge International Academies, has community school programmes in underdeveloped countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. By working alongside local community leaders, parents, and teachers, their programmes have delivered high-quality education for primary and pre-primary children. There are also a lot of other organisations that continue to work with national and local governments to improve access to education, as well as making sure that children’s education remains intact and continuous in times of crisis.
Let’s take a closer look at how education helps uplift kids from impoverished countries.
Education increases a child’s potential lifetime earnings
More education generally leads to higher income. Recent studies have shown that for each year of schooling, a person’s lifetime earnings will increase by 10%. Simply put, students who are able to hone their skills through education are more prepared to manage various situations in their workplace and improve their domain and technical expertise. This allows them to go for higher positions in the organisations that they choose to apply to in the future. Furthermore, having a good educational background also makes a worker more attractive to employers, which allows them to negotiate above their typical salary range.
Educations bridges the wealth gap
Wealth inequality is a social issue that governments should address. While this exists in every country all over the globe, some nations have it worse. For instance, a 2019 USA Today report ranks South Africa first in terms of wealth inequality. Despite having a GDP per capita of 179493.41 rands, the unemployment rate and poverty rate in South Africa rank high at 27.3% and 26.6% respectively. If a country fails to solve their wealth inequality issues, it may face a higher rate of health and social problems and have a lower satisfaction and happiness rate. Through education, children who come from the lower-income families have a better chance of getting out of poverty and help close their country’s wealth gap.
Education establishes peace
Many impoverished countries often suffer from various crises that disrupt their peace, which then displaces many of their citizens. Education plays an important part in peace building as it imparts valuable skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes that are critical for the economic, political, and social development of a country. Raising a generation of highly educated children promotes peace as it allows them to gain knowledge in developing sustainable lifestyles, improving human rights, fighting for gender equality, and promoting a culture of non-violence. Down the line, children who were given access to quality education can take on national and local government posts. There, they can find themselves in a position where they can make a positive change in their communities and lift the future generation out of poverty.
All in all, having access to quality education is key to improving the lives of children in impoverished countries. For more insights on how to cultivate and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of teenagers, be sure to check our blog here on Teen Entrepreneur.
