Povery is a cause of illiteracy - Research Paper Example

Illiteracy is the consequence of lack of education. In today’s world, literacy is especially significant for growth of a society as well as individual. Though there are many countries where illiteracy rate is almost zero percent, there are quite a few countries which are struggling to eradicate illiteracy by educating mass number of people. Illiteracy can be of two types, one is adult illiteracy and another is children illiteracy. There is no one and only cause for illiteracy, but biggest reason for illiteracy is poverty.

People who are deprived of adequate amount of food generally are engrossed with the thought of getting food in order to survive. A person is incapable to concentrate on acquiring education with an empty stomach. People who are living below poverty line are unable to educate their children because they can’t meet the expense of the cost of education and thus compel them to work for food (Wagner, “Literacy and Adult Education”). Poverty and Illiteracy Poverty and illiteracy are interlinked with each other.

Poor people are not capable to attain enough money to provide adequate education to their children and without proper education they become constrained to a life of poverty. Poverty can be of two types: Absolute Poverty: Absolute poverty is referred to as the deficiency of financial resources essential to maintain a certain minimal level of standard of living. The absolute poverty is based on aspects such as minimum financial resources required to fulfill basic needs or minimum income level needed to buy necessary food (Berg, “Poverty and Education”).

Relative Poverty: Relative poverty is partially determined by means of the society where the person lives. For example, someone who is not considered as poor in Africa may be considered poor in America (Berg, “Poverty and Education”). Both kind of poverty is related to illiteracy. Inadequate financial condition may result in irregular attendance at schools in developed countries. The relative poverty can lead any person to be excluded from society or a particular school community. This segregation affects in acquiring the full benefit from education and thus benefit of education into employment.

Relative poverty also impacts the motivation to perform well in education or to participate in any educational event. The absolute poverty in many developing country normally have high illiteracy level. A number of children are unable to complete their primary education and a few are not even able to start their primary education. Absolute poverty results in poor conditions for education such as inadequate books, lack of electricity and no places for learning. Poverty leads to poor nutrition to children which affect the learning ability of children.

According to Global Monitoring Report EFA in Sub–Saharan–African region, ‘more than a quarter of children’, who are below the age of five are malnourished due to improper nutrition and poor diet and thus unable to attend or concentrate on school studies. Good nutrition and improved physical condition possess strong beneficial effect on children’s leaning ability and this is the reason poor children hardly concentrate on their education. Inadequate resources, unstable environment of learning and financial insecurity often lead to emotional stress in poor families which impact the level of education of children