What Are the Effects of Poverty on Education?
The effects of poverty on education are devastating for children. Millions of families in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa struggle daily for basic survival. When someone is working daily to simply stay alive, getting an education is at the bottom of the list of priorities.
Global Citizen tells us, “Families living in poverty often have to choose between sending their child to school or providing other basic needs. Even if families do not have to pay tuition fees, school comes with the added costs of uniforms, books, supplies, and/or exam fees.”[1] GC also reports, “In many developing countries, children’s access to education can be limited by numerous factors. Language barriers, gender roles, and reliance on child labor can all stall progress to provide quality education. The world’s most vulnerable children from disadvantaged communities are more likely to miss out on school.”[2]
Say you have a family where both parents have to leave every day for hard, manual-labor jobs. They have three young children. What happens to the children while they’re away? Often the oldest child is left to care for the home and their siblings. They cannot go to school or even think about an education. Or even worse, the children have to go to work with their parents, a situation all too familiar in many parts of the world.
In 2021, the Global Education Monitoring Report Team and UNESCO reported that 244 million children were out of school in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, a staggering statistic.[3] Those children cannot realize a better future without education.
This is why GFA World created a Child Sponsorship Program. Each child enrolled into the program is provided with essentials that help them remain in school like tuition assistance, tutoring, clean water, healthcare and nutritious food.
It only takes $35 per month to help a child in this way. You can sponsor a boy or girl who needs help escaping poverty. You will get their name and be able to send letters and pictures through an online portal. Your regular prayers will also have a huge impact on this precious life.
A child’s choice of going to school might be taken away because of poverty. But you can be the reason they get that choice back. Without it, they will likely stay in the future-destroying cycle of poverty into which they were born. Each sponsor is a way out.
Learn more about the effects of poverty on child development[1] “Understanding How Poverty Is the Main Barrier to Education.” Global Citizen. February 6, 2020. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/poverty-education-satistics-facts/.
[2] “10 Barriers to Education that Children Living in Poverty Face.” Global Citizen. August 13, 2019. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/.
[3] “New Estimation Confirms out-of-School Population Is Growing in sub-Saharan Africa.” UNESDOC, September 2022. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000382577.