The effect of a lack of education on poverty rates, is one of the most prevalent issues today, especially in third world countries. Therefore this article seeks to highlight how a lack of education contributes to poverty levels in countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 

       Education is a nourishing force. It is a constructive factor for any society. Education empowers people to work for their development and growth. Henceforth, education brings out the majestic potentialities of individuals and helps them reach high goals. When people are excluded within a society, when they are not well educated there are negative consequences for society. Education affects real GDP significantly. Additionally, better education can be an effective tool for poverty reduction and enhancing economic growth. Education is the wise, hopeful, and respectful cultivation of learning and change, undertaken in the belief that we all should have the chance to share in life. Education is deliberate, we act with a purpose, to build understanding and judgment and enable action. It helps people become better citizens, get better paying jobs, and shows the difference between good and bad. “Education is the most powerful weapon which one can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

          Poverty is a condition in which a community or an individual lacks the financial resources to meet the basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. According to the World Bank, "Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a medical professional. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, it is fear for the future.” 

      Additionally, lack of education eternizes poverty, and poverty limits access to education. In most societies, there is a correlation between the level of education and the wage given to the employee. Most families in developing countries live in extreme poverty and cannot afford to send one or all of their children to school. Moreover, if a child is living in a poverty-stricken household, it means they cannot go to school, and if they don't go to school they are more likely to remain poor.

     According to a study conducted by Waldfogel Children, children from the poorest families got 34 points out of 80 in literacy tests, compared with 69 points from 80 for children from the richest families.  

     Pakistan is struggling to provide free and good quality primary schooling in line with the Millenium Development Goal of universal primary education. Moreover, poverty is not uniform across Pakistan; its causes and effects may vary from province to province. Henceforth the obstacles faced by penurious families in Punjab are not the same as for those families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Woefully, the vast majority of children in Pakistan are not attending school, and therefore do not have the opportunity to access education in terms of learning literacy and numeracy. In the public education sector, student enrolment rates decrease rapidly with each successive year of schooling. In many areas of Sindh, if 100 students enroll in the nursery, only a handful will proceed onwards to the fifth grade of that same school. For example, primary enrolment is the highest in Punjab being 62 percent and the lowest in Balochistan being 45 percent.  

       The education system of Pakistan has been crippled mainly due to scarce finance. The governments have been giving less than 2.5% of the budget to the education sector which is not sufficient for the growing educational needs of the nation in the present changing times.

    Income poverty does not allow one to make adequate investment in education, and a low level of investment in education accentuates poverty. At a micro level, nations with multitudes of illiterate or less educated people can not progress well. According to The Nepal Living Standards Survey, higher levels of education are inversely correlated with income poverty, and that lower income was associated with lower levels of family head's education. Recently, the government of Nepal is planning to provide universal primary education in the hopes to reduce poverty. 

      A report on childhood poverty in Bangladesh shows that 33 million children, about half of all Bangladeshi children, are living in poverty. One out of every six children is a working child; basically, more than seven million children are working across the country. Furthermore, there are interrelated links between childhood poverty and exclusion from education. Children affected by childhood poverty in Bangladesh are less likely to go to school and more likely to drop out of school. According to a recent study by the Bangladesh government, school enrolment shows that 91% of children from the most educated families are enrolled in schools whereas only 12% of boys and 7% of girls are enrolled from illiterate families. 

    As education has an inter-generational impact on schooling, future generations will be affected by the link between poverty and education. Support for primary education must be given to the children of the poorest 20-25% of households. The poorest 50% of households must be prioritized for support at the secondary school level. Plans should be adopted for special courses offering training skills to young people who complete any level of secondary school. The longer children live in poverty, the lower their educational achievement the worse their social and emotional functioning.

     To conclude, it’s Catch 22! A lack of education contributes to poverty, and poverty might lead to a lack of education.

References: 

“Definition of Education by Different Authors” examplanning.com/definition-of-education-by-different-authors/ Accessed 8/25/2021

Ruth Kotinsky. “What is education? A definition and discussion” 

infed.org/mobi/what-is-education-a-definition-and-discussion/ Accessed 8/25/2021

“What is poverty?” www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/esic/overview/content/what_is_poverty.html/ 8/25/2021
 
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James Chen. “Poverty” investopedia.com/terms/p/poverty.asp#:~:text=Poverty%20is%20a%20state%20or,needs%20can%27t%20be%20met / Accessed 8/25/2021

Mihaela Mihai, Emilia Titanab, Daniela Maneab. “Education and Poverty” sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212567115015324 / Accessed 9/26/2021

Saima Nawaz, Nasir Iqbal. “Education Poverty in Pakistan: A Spatial Analysis at District Level” researchgate.net/publication/312151000_Education_Poverty_in_Pakistan_A_Spatial_Analysis_at_District_Level / Accessed 9/26/2021

“Poverty and education: Making ‘free and compulsory’ work for students” dawn.com/news/1027875/poverty-and-education-making-free-and-compulsory-work-for-students /Accessed 9/26/2021

Iqbal Ahmad. Khail ur Rehman, Asghar Ali, Itbar Khan, Fazal Akber Khan. “Critical Analysis of the problems of Education in Pakistan” files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1091681.pdf / Accessed 8/26/2021

Rushidan I. Rahman. “Does education reduce poverty in rural Bangladesh?”/ eldis.org/document/A47482/ Accessed 8/26/2021

Surya Bahadur Thapa. “Relationship Between Education and Poverty in Nepal”/9666.pdf/ Accessed 8/26/2021