Is free education the solution to poverty?

Poverty refers to one’s lack of basic needs, due to low income (Britannica, 2018). This income would be gained from working, however, without any education, the possibility of a well paying job is severely low, for they are not taught enough knowledge and skills. (no author, 2020) This all results in their family being born and forced into poverty and so on. Lack of education is common in many countries, according to Brookings, which is referring to calculations based on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, with approximately 42 million children in Africa not being enrolled in school, and 250 million people across the world, as of 2021. (BROOKINGS, 2021 ; UNESCO, 2021 ) . Furthermore, another issue with countries unable to have a good education is their lack of healthcare. Studies show that people in such conditions experience higher obesity, asthma, diabetes, heart disease and many other health problems. (Tulane University, 2021) Moreover, countries as such also lack a voice to themselves, meaning that they have less right to themselves, which can lead to inequalities and more so. (Motu Economic, 2023). These factors collectively perpetuate poverty, because limited financial resources restrict access to adequate healthcare, the protection of rights, and opportunities for higher income, all of which are fundamentally rooted in the absence of quality education.

Why does lack of education lead to poverty?

Most uneducated children come from South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, etc., all of which coming from the same continent (Tom Fish, 2021). When looking at the living conditions in such countries, we can see why poverty is affecting their education. Children are put to work instead of school, for they cannot afford it, which creates a poverty loop, because the lack of education further leads to them needing to live by practicing dangerous jobs, unable to gain financial help from their parents, for they live the same way, which again, all starts from lack of education (Sarah Mills, 2022). Moreover, the price of education is way too high, as even free schools have hidden costs, like mandatory uniforms and supplies such as pencils, notebooks, and workbooks, which are expensive. A number of 15 million children do not have the money and resources to afford school supplies (Amy Chilag, 2019). In addition, the economical position of many countries is another leading cause of lack of education, and furthermore, poverty, as the country itself does not have the funds to provide for improvement in living conditions(Allison Academy, 2021).

Consequences of lack of education

Currently, the life expectancy of South Sudan, one of the most uneducated countries, is 55.48 years (World Bank, 2020 ). This shows how lack of education further leads to bad health. When a country is of low income, it also lacks healthcare. A report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette touched on how the poor neighbourhoods lack doctors, for they want to go to a bigger city, to earn better (Rebecca Lee, n.d). This leaves people of low income (due to low education) far away from sources of healthcare, as when hospitals lack funds and staff, it shuts down. According to UNESCO, the country with the lowest literacy rate is Niger. In addition, this country's life expectancy rate is at 61 years old, which is 10 whole years lower than the worldwide average (UNESCO, n.d). This further shows how the lack of education, and furthermore income, results in a lack of health and healthcare. In addition, the country itself gets harmed. As a whole, the lack of education, which means lower income and job opportunities, lowers the country's economy. According to OECD, the investment in the people can have long term positive effects for the future society. Countries which have invested highly in education have shown better progress socially, economically, creatively and more (Runde, 2023). Moreso, when people lack education, they get stuck in poverty, as when people do not have availability to education, they tend to not be able to succeed in any well paying job either, for they are not qualified with enough skills (no author, 2020). As a result, a poverty loop occurs.

Different Perspectives on Free Education

On Free Education, there are few different approaches to it. For example, some say free education should be implemented, for it would ‘open doors to income’ which would work to increase living standards and conditions (Giovetti, 2022). Education is said to be the best factor to escape poverty for it has a high relation with economic growth. However, some say no, for reasons such as the budgetary situation it would put the government in, for the implementation of free education would mean that the government would have to spend more, which could further increase taxes and lower resources (Layne, 2024). In addition, there are concerns also about how it would affect the educational system, for the lowering of financial support might lower one's motivation to work and excel in the system, putting a genuine burden on the quality and benefit of the education. Overall, the overcrowding of schools by free education is said to also have few negative impacts, such as quality, motivation, and economy, on the other hand, still having many positive impacts, such as removing poverty, improving literacy levels, helping employment possibilities, and more.

Global perspectives

As of UNESCO, if all low earning students would develop simply just basic reading skills, and none else, an estimate of 171 million people would be able to get out of extreme poverty (Giovetti, 2022). As for more, if all were to finish secondary school, it would slice the global poverty rate by more than half. The government of Sudan has made efforts in improving the educational system, by building classrooms, training teachers, improving systems and handing out textbooks, which works to improve the possibility of students attending school, for they don't have to worry about not affording such supplies (GPE, no date). As a result of their actions, over a decade, they have created 2800 more schools, giving children more opportunities to attend school, 85 thousand more children attending school annually, and even if not reaching the goal of a million new children, it is still an improvement (UNICEF, 2021). However, even if coming from the same continent, Sub-Saharan Africa is known to have the lowest literacy rate, as 1 of 5 primary aged children are not in school. Moreso, 6 of 10 children of ages between 15 and 17 are also out of school. From this country, there hasn't been any action seen just yet, which is why the literacy rate is so low, however, the British Council has done research and wishes to help out (Beavers, 2023). In Britain, education is free, and is not affected by what social or cultural status you have (no author, 2024). As a response, we can see the difference in between the two's literacy rates, as the UK has a rate of 99% (Hartley, 2022).

What could be done to improve such education?

In order to stop such side effects which come from paid education, such as the well known poverty, we obviously need to incorporate affordable education. As for us, all we can do is donate to programs which excel in such an area. For example, the organisation ‘Save the Children’, which is the highest child education charity, 180 million children having the right to education ever since the 2000s, operating in 113 different countries (Save The Children, n.d). However, it is not only us who can make a change, governments can do that to. For example, in 2011 the rate of analphabetism in Romania was 1,36% amongst adults, meaning that almost 245,000 people didn't know how to read or write (no author, 2014). Therefore in 2012 grade 0 became mandatory, and in 2020, all 14 years of school became mandatory (no author, 2020). As a result, we have been shown with drops in analphabetism in the past four years, especially amongst current students. Obviously there are both privately and government-funded initiatives, as I have mentioned before, and even if we can also make a huge difference, government funded organizations could have a higher impact, as they can act immediately, for they already have the required funds.