The relationship between poverty and education is widely acknowledged to be bidirectional. Poor individuals frequently lack access to adequate education, and those who do not have access to adequate education are often forced to live in poverty. However, before discussing the interconnections between poverty and education, it is necessary to define poverty. Poverty has numerous characteristics and is not solely defined by income or expenditure levels. Amartya Sen's (1999, 2001) work has widened our understanding of poverty by characterizing it as a state characterized by a lack of freedom of choice resulting from a lack of what he refers to as 'societal competence ' This multifaceted view goes much beyond the traditional definition of poverty as a lack of financial resources, (Amartya, Sen 1999). Poverty limits kids and provides them with an unfair advantage. This essay will be based on the impact of poverty on education and how it affects education for people from informal settlements. From the challenges they face to the opportunities, they have as learners from poor homes. I will be using different articles to support my arguments and broaden my understanding of the impact of poverty on education.
Situational (transient) poverty and generational (absolute or chronic) poverty, according to sociologists, are the two categories of poverty. Situational poverty happens when a family's financial situation changes due to an illness, job loss, or other unforeseen occurrence. Although situational poverty is distressing, it usually has only short-term consequences. However, this does not imply that families should be left to deal with situational poverty. If not addressed, it could lead to generational poverty. Generational poverty is defined by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre as 'absolute poverty that is experienced for an extended period of time' (CPRC, 2005). In some circumstances, the child's entire life is at stake. It goes on to say that a person living in absolute poverty is unable to meet his or her fundamental needs for food, clothes and shelter.
In the ongoing war against poverty in South Africa, children aged 17 and under, those from rural areas, and those with little or no education have been identified as the main sufferers. Poverty is a significant hazard to a healthy childhood. Approximately 63 percent of children in South Africa are currently poor. This has an impact on their physical, mental and emotional development, among other things (Pretorius, 2016). This is particularly evident in youngsters from less developed areas. According to Pretorius (2016), children who grow up in poverty are affected later in life due to a lack of access to essential services. Education is a means for reducing poverty and empowering individuals, however, South Africa's public education system is now perpetuating rather than breaking the poverty cycle.(Anon, 2014).
Poverty has long been recognized as having a negative impact on schooling. Thirty years of serious social science have produced overwhelming evidence that socio-economic position, is the best single predictor of how much schooling pupils will receive, how well they will do in their studies, and what their life chances are beyond school. Poverty has a deleterious impact on student conduct, achievement and schooling retention (See Levin, 1994b). According to a large body of research. None of this evidence suggests that poverty is a barrier to academic success. Despite adversity, some children succeed. It would be a huge error to assume that growing in poverty is an irreversible setback for one's future because that would mean abandoning efforts to help impoverished families and their children. Nonetheless there is no denying that poverty places children at a significant disadvantage.
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People live in relatively small shacks, with the majority of them living in one room shacks with their entire family (Msindo, et al, 2013). Most families are burdened by the history of colonialism and apartheid, which has resulted in a continuous cycle of unemployment, poor housing, overpopulation, and insufficient community services (De la Rey, et al, 1997). The child's growth is heavily influenced by the nature and quality of the environment in which he or she grows. The house, as a setting, plays an important part in socializing children for adulthood, and it is the child's first and most basic educator (Bashman, 2008). Learning can be harmed or facilitated by one's upbringing and community values (Bengu, 2009).
The socio-economic standing of parents is determined by family income, parental occupation, and community social status. Low SES is thought to have a negative impact on academic achievement because it restricts access to essential resources, (Hartas, 2011). Children are born into their parent's social class, which gives them a social identity. It is believed that children from informal settlements confront several barriers and challenges as a result of their birth socio-economic class, which is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
In terms of their contribution to their children's educational attainment, parents socio-economic backgrounds have been stated to have intellectual credibility, (Gary, et al, 2000). Various characteristics of a child's socio-economic background are thought to be critical to their intellectual development. Educators are concerned about the extent to which students from low socio-economic background appear to be disadvantaged or worse than their peers from higher socio-economic background in terms of academic performance, educational attainment, and the acquisition of a post-secondary school certificate. When there is a link between educational attainment and socio-economic status, students who appear to come from a low socio-economic background face a variety of challenges in school and later in adulthood, which has been linked to issues of human resource waste, inefficiency of required occupational capabilities, and as a result of economic inefficiencies.
People who live in informal settlements are often scientifically excluded from opportunities quality jobs, ability and empowerment that would allow them to take better, control over their health and lives, (Garau & Sclar, 2004). The majority of people living in informal settlement are street vendors, indicating a lack of meaning jobs, (Roever, 2016). The difference is that they make less money to support themselves and live a normal life, (Endjala & Botes, 2020). Security guards, domestic workers, and cleaners are among the jobs available to those who find themselves unemployed, (Ndumba, 2014). Climbing out of poverty is very impossible for many here since they lack alternative sources of income and the education required to obtain stable well-paying employment as a result, their way of life is passed down through generations.
The purpose of this essay was to demonstrate how poverty affects education. According to the research, there is a clear correlation between a country's poverty levels and its educational standard. It was also discovered that many children had restricted access to school die to a variety of circumstances including poverty, bad infrastructure and a scarcity of resources. The government may alleviate this burden by assisting schools in obtaining the resources they need to deliver high-quality education to students and by identifying strategies to eradicate poverty so that education is not harmed.
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