The Role of Education in Reducing Poverty Rate
CHAPTER ONE
- Objectives and research questions of the study
The general objective of the study is to examine the relationship between education and poverty, and assess the role of education in reducing poverty and enhancing development in Nigeria. The study specifically aims:
- To assess how indigenes of the Ada community perceive the role of education in poverty
- To what extent do indigenes of Ada, perceive education as a tool for poverty reduction?
- To examine the relationship between parents (household heads) income and educational level of their children in the Ada community.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter seeks to explore relevant scholarly literature in relation to the thesis. The overall objective of this research is to assess how education can be used to reduce poverty and enhance development in Nigeria. The chapter will further present and discuss three (3) concepts (poverty, education and development) that are central to the thesis as well as the theories upon which the thesis is built on and argue the relevance of the concepts and theories to the study.
Understanding Poverty
The issue of poverty provokes thoughts for two basic questions. These are; “why are people poor” and “how the poor can escape poverty”. To find an exit route for poverty requires determining its causes. In determining poverty causes, we tend to ask diverse range of questions which may include; Is there any relationship between the growth rate of per capita income and poverty? Does a low-income level lead to poverty? Does income inequality between rich and poor create poverty? Does the differential earning abilities between low and high-income groups lead to poverty?
The concept of Poverty is a multifaceted one and could be defined in either relative or absolute terms to inculcate social, economic, and political components. In absolute terms, poverty refers to one’s inability to provide the basic necessary means needed to cater for personal needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Relative poverty on the other hand is defined in economic terms. Thus, it is poverty associated with the economic status of other individuals in society: people are considered poor if their standard of living is below the prevailing standards in a given societal context (“UNESCO”, 2015).
Many research analyses accentuate the importance of income and income inequality as major determinants of poverty. Several studies on poverty has been conducted using income-based determinants, however, it is argued that poverty is not limited to only income or income differentials. The work of Amartya Sen (1992) has broadened the understanding of poverty by defining poverty as a condition resulting from the lack of freedom to make choices due to lack of one’s effective functioning capability in society. This interpretation of Sen, however, extend beyond the idea of poverty being perceived in monetary terms or as lack of financial resources. Sen’s viewpoint therefore can be interpreted to suggest that lack of education inherently can be considered as a form of poverty in many societies. Reflecting on Sens approach or interpretation of poverty, it is important to consider the absolute and relative terms of poverty when considering poverty’s linkages with lack of financial resources because both absolute and relative poverty are relevant for education. For instance, it is argued that the chances or possibility of having limitation in school attendance due to financial constraints is more common in people who happen to fall within the circles of absolute poverty whereas individuals in the relative poverty circles may often feel isolated or excluded from the school community or even the whole school community itself may feel excluded from the wider society. This form of exclusion has the potential of affecting the ability of a person to gain the full benefits of education or even to translate the benefits of education into a meaningful or remunerative employment.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Methodology
Introduction
Research methodology is defined by Bryman (2016) as the process used in carrying out a study. It guides the researcher on relevant actions to be taken to find answers to research questions of the study. It considers the logic behind the methods used and why others were not used so that the research results are capable of being evaluated (Berg & Lune, 2016). One could either choose a qualitative, quantitative or mixed method for an educational research. However, as Potter (2013) asserts, the purpose of the study influences the choice of research method to be used. This chapter will focus on the research design of the study (i.e. data collection and analysis), the research population and sampling. Furthermore, the chapter will touch on the ethical issues and limitations of the study.
- Mixed Methods Approach – How?
The purpose of this study is to assess how education can be used to reduce poverty and enhance development. The overall methodological approach for this study is a mixed method approach; a method of research which involves an integration of both quantitative and qualitative method. Quantitative research is inductive in nature and aims at making a generalized conclusion of a population or to explain a phenomenon by collecting numerical data. On the other hand, qualitative research is deductive in nature and basically aims to understand specific experiences with the intention of describing and exploring meaning through text, narrative, or visual-based data, by developing themes exclusive to that set of participants. Quantitative research refers to counts and measures of things while qualitative research refers to its essence and ambience (Berg & Lune,2016). A mixed research method has been chosen for this study because it will significantly help in analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data collected separately, with the qualitative
data giving more detailed opinions of the respondents while the quantitative data will provide numbers to aide in results comparison to confirm or disconfirm results from both methods (Creswell, 2014). By mixing both quantitative and qualitative research and data, I will gain an in- depth understanding and corroboration of the entire study which will offer me an opportunity to offset the weaknesses inherent to using either of the research methods alone. Furthermore, the researcher has chosen to conduct a mixed methods research because using mixed methods offer the opportunity of triangulation; that is using various means (i.e methods, data sources and researchers) to study the same phenomenon. Triangulation enable a researcher to identify diverse facets of a phenomenon in a more accurate way as it involves the use of different methods and techniques from different perspectives.
CHAPTER FOUR
FINDINGS: EDUCATION AND POVERTY REDUCTION
Introduction
This chapter presents data collected from the study by providing the general demographic and descriptive statistics of the sample and further gives the findings of the study.
Socio–demographic data of sample households
The socio–demographic data from the study population is presented below. This section discusses the gender distribution of respondents, the age distribution of respondents, the educational status of respondents, the employment status of respondents, occupation and the average monthly income of respondents. Furthermore, gender disaggregated data is presented in this section of the study.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Conclusion
Education remains a key factor in the poverty reduction and development process. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between poverty and education and assess how education can be used as a tool for poverty reduction.
The study found out that 91.8 percent of respondents perceived the role of education as important for poverty reduction and development. Respondents hold education in high esteem and agrees that an educated population is a prerequisite for having a developed country free from poverty or with minimal poverty levels. Most of the respondents emphasized that education is of utmost importance for an individual’s growth and self-development. These are valuable thoughts of education displayed by respondents which and this addresses the first research question on the extent to which indigenes of Abia state perceive education as a major component for poverty reduction.
Also, to examine if there is a relationship between parents educational and income levels and influence on educating their children, the study found out that most respondents answered affirmatively that their income and educational level had a great influence in their decision to sending their children to school. The study showed that 88.2% of the household heads were employed and the most dominant income group levels on monthly basis was within the range of GHȻ 300.00-GHȻ 1000.00. In addition, it was discovered from the study that most over 80% of the respondents had received formal education at least up to senior high school level and people with professional jobs were 52.9% demonstrating that most people have received formal education. This finding of the study explains why the dropout rate in the state stood at 5.9%
which gives the impression that a lot of children are receiving formal education. This however shows the relationship between the educational and income level of parents and how it influences their decision in educating their children which helps to answer the second research question.
Furthermore, the study shows that policy actors have made significant contribution to the educational system to help improve teaching and learning in the locality which has had a great impact on poverty reduction. Respondents agreed that the government is doing its possible best to enrich the education system and reduce poverty with the introduction of social intervention programs to absorb graduates such as the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) and Youth Employment Agency (YEA) as well as the establishment of the Business Advisory Center. All these policies are geared towards increasing the earning potentials of people and enhance their personal growth and development to lift them out of poverty. The study noted that strategic plans have been put in place to ensure the successful implementation of the programmes by policy actors which is a commendable effort by all involved actors. This responsibility of ensuring the policies are well implemented is a great effort of contribution to the poverty reduction process which demonstrates policies actors support for reducing poverty levels with reference to the third research question for this study.
Overall, the study has shown that education is indeed a panacea for poverty reduction and development and it has observed that education is playing a significant role in reducing poverty in Abia state of Nigeria. However, the educational system should be given the necessary attention especially in terms of quality of education delivered and government must ensure rapid creation of jobs to absorb the increasing number of graduates in the country so that the links between education and poverty reduction can be fully comprehended and appreciated.
- Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study and following the interpretation of the field data, the following recommendations and suggestions are made for the attention of the government and policy actors.
Recommendations to the Government of Nigeria
Government through the ministry of education should improve their measures in ensuring quality education such as reasonable class sizes, adequate hours of instruction, adequate supplies of learning materials and accommodating learning environment to enhance higher learning achievements.
The Government of Nigeria has prepared its poverty reduction strategy and education is one of the areas of focus. There is the need to ensure that resources allocated to the sector are used for the benefit of the people. The mechanism for achieving these is to ensure effective community engagement in the policy process and promoting the concept of decentralization to the latter.
Recommendations to policy actors
Dialogue should be established between curriculum developers and leaders of the traditional education, all traditional stakeholders to discuss and extract all the good human values enshrined in the traditional education and include them in the curriculum of the formal education creating indiscriminate awareness and early access to sound and reliable education.
Curriculum should be made more relevant for social progress, strengthening linkages between education and the world of work. Most of the curriculum used in teaching some subjects are fully theoretical and does not relate entirely to what is being done in the real world. Therefore, curriculum developers should draw up the curriculum in such a way that it relates to what is being practiced in the field of work.
- The wider social and development role of the school system should be strengthened, to give clear links between education, poverty and
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