Poverty and Education - Assignment Example

Poverty and Education Poverty and Education Poverty has been defined by the society as a of having insufficient material or money. At its extreme, it is the state of being in acute shortage of the basic human needs. When an individual, a group of people, or a certain community cannot afford themselves the necessities of food, shelter, clothing and clean water, they are living in poverty (Philip 1963). To the extent that the individual or community in question cannot access basic amenities like health care and education, they are poverty-stricken.

Such shortages in necessities that is vital for human survival is referred to as the state of absolute poverty. When compared with the social status, an individual, a group of people or a community that is below the societal threshold in terms of income are said to be under relative poverty (Babb 2009). The society on the other hand defines education as the channel through which the custom practice and the aims of a community are passed through to the generations to come. This is done through sharing experiences that influences how the individuals in the next generation think, reasons and acts.

Thus, education can simply be said to be the system through which the acquired knowledge and skills, as well as the societal core values, tradition and customs are passed on from one generation to the next. The changes in the above social issues are headed in different directions all together. While the change in the number of the uneducated people in the society is constantly decreasing, the reverse is true when it comes to poverty (Zangfa 2007). The number of poverty-stricken people is constantly rising in the society.

With the adverse climate change that has taken place of recent, the ability of the natural resources to meet the needs of the society has diminished. Such changes as the global warming have made food production a not so well to do affair. Since food is one of the basic human needs, any shortage of food means poverty to the affected communities in our society. The current rise in population, hitting to a 7 billion mark recently is another factor contributing to the rise in poverty levels in the society (Babb 2009).

This is so because; the increase in population does not match the expansion in society resources. Education on the other hand is on the rise in the society. This is due to the improvement in technology and infrastructure. Such improvements have made accessibility to education and learning institutions much easier. The poverty situation above can be alleviated through the following recommended two ways. Education by itself can be used as one of the tools to alleviate poverty. With the rise in the number of educated people, the education can be tapped and channeled to the dimension of activities that will increase the resource base of the society.

Such disciplines as agriculture and Engineering can be applied to equip the society with avenues through which new food varieties are developed. Application of technology to establish new products that can serve the societal needs better can go a long way in poverty alleviation (Zangfa 2007). Owing to the higher rate of population growth relative to the resources available, a need to control population growth cannot be ignored. Therefore, family planning methods should be applied to limit the population increase, thus eliminating the stiff competition of societal resources that eventually leads to poverty.

Work cited Babb, S. (2009). Behind the Development Banks: Washington Politics, World Poverty, and the Wealth of Nations. University of Chicago Press. (http://www.ifpri.org/publication/agricultural) Philip, H. (1963). Educational Theory and Inspiration. Educational Theory 13 (1): 1–64. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-5446.1963.tb00101.x Zangfa, L. (2007). Educate a Woman, You Educate a Nation: South Africa Aims to Improve its Education WNN – Women News Network.