Education perhaps is the best long-term solution to poverty, but what happens when children choose work over school?

In a third world country, or any country for that matter, education is the primary element to combat poverty and the ailments of society, and on top of it having education is the right of each and every individual.

Parents, rich or poor, expect that the education system will provide their children with basic skills to pursue a livelihood which will enable them to enjoy a decent standard of living.

Having said that, what happens when the children opt out of schools to earn money to put food on the table? With soaring price-hike the children of the poor are compelled to work and prefer working over acquiring education.

Despite free education in public sector schools, these naïve souls are putting their future in jeopardy by making the wrong choices, just to get their families go by on daily basis.

These children are the victims of lack of opportunities and choices, and when their families are deprived of the basic necessities these children are forced to work.

Another negative of work over education at a young age, is that little does these young boys know if they remained illiterate, they will face further hardships in adulthood when they will face the neck breaking competition which will push them further down.

The problem doesn’t stop there, Pakistan’s public sector schools is poor as it is, and these students don’t get much encouragement from an already educationally devoid environment at home and they often end up landing on low paying manual labor opportunities. Which in itself is a hazard to society where they get exploited in every way possible? Hundred of boys in Islamabad resort to selling Polythene Bags in G-6 Sunday bazaar, and others find work with other vendors to make money.

It is the story of many families who migrated from other cities of Pakistan to the Capital, for better living standards, but these children ended up paying for their move and with other basic necessities these children are now deprived of their childhood as well.

The mindset has to change as well, because many of these children think that it’s better to earn then to sit at classes, and they don’t think education would benefit them in any way possible.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=60

Posted by Hassan Ali on Oct 12 2011. Filed under Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry