The following are eight
benefits of education that help to combat global poverty:
Illiteracy
is a cycle which reinforces long-term poverty levels throughout generations.
Individuals living in poverty are often prevented from entering educational
settings.
According
to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
a 12 percent drop in global poverty could be achieved if each student within
low-income countries received basic reading and literacy skills by the time
they left school.
Increased
education levels directly give individuals the necessary skills to
increase their income level. Each extra year of schooling a child receives
increases that student’s earnings by up to 10 percent, according to UNESCO.
Education
also boosts the income levels and amount of food farmers produce on their land
by giving them the necessary information to cultivate cash crops or follow
other measures that may raise their cultivation levels.
According
to the Global Partnership for Education, 36 percent of children worldwide who
are not receiving education live in areas of conflict. This lack of opportunity
damages their ability to find employment once the conflict ceases. Education
promotes stable and peaceful societies that are capable of development.
Education
and awareness give individuals the tools they need to take control over their
health choices. Education is also important for the containment of communicable
diseases.
According
to the World Health Service, an individual who has completed a lower secondary
school education has poor health 18 percent less than individuals with no
education.
Prevention
programs help to fight the transmission of diseases within affected communities
and reduce mother/infant mortality rates.
UNESCO
reported a mother who is literate is 23 percent more likely to give birth with
the help of a skilled attendant or midwife. Further, children born to literate
mothers are also 50 percent more likely to live past the age of five.
The
benefits of female education are not limited to childbirth. When women receive
educational opportunities they have greater abilities to generate income, their
families are healthier, they raise fewer children and get married at older
ages, thereby averting child marriages.
Educating
mothers is integral for the societies they belong to. Over the last four
decades, around four million child deaths have been prevented due to an
increase in female education according to a study funded by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation posted in The Lancet journal.
Poor
nutrition affects brain development and the ability to learn for individuals
living within poverty stricken areas.
According
to UNESCO, 1.7 million fewer children would suffer from stunting, a sign of
malnutrition, if all women completed primary education levels. Education also
contributes to a more varied diet which reduces the prevalence of malnutrition.
With
increased levels of education, a country’s residents will be more likely to
gain knowledge of technical skills creating employment opportunities in fields
such as agriculture, construction, technologies and transportation. The
development of infrastructure gives children living in remote areas the ability
to reach school facilities more easily, raising educational levels within that
particular area.
Education
promotes and fuels productivity gains that boost economic growth within
countries. As reported by the United States Agency for International
Development, increasing the average level of education in a country by one year
can increase the annual gross domestic product of that nation by half a
percentage point.
– Lauren Lewis
