CHAPTER 5
POVERTY and EDUCATION
Who seeks education?
K: Who seeks Education in India?
Me: The middle class and poor.
K: Do you say that in developed world, these two category of people do not seek Education.
Me: There are two main reasons.
(a) Higher education abraod is quite expensive. (b) Selected few who have a goal other than economic pursue it. More often than not, the students earn and pay their fees.
K: In India and third world countries, White collar jobs is perceived as the only way to cross the poverty live to ensure an assured three time meal. In developed countries any one who can provide a service or possess a skill can earn wages that could be perceived as middle class.
Me: Farming is a profitable profession in developed countries. Farmers need not depend of money lenders who charge several fold interest rates than banks. When the nature fail them, unable to repay debts, many farmers have committed suicide. This happens only in India. Not in any developed world. The current generation of farmers send their children for higher education to escape from poverty.
K: I have observed in our village, a strange behavior of the villagers. The farmers will have a news that some one made huge profits by cultivating tomatoes. The following season every one would grow only tomato.
The result is that the price would fall so low that they cannot afford to pluck and take it to market. They become poor, even after putting-in a lot of effort. In the next couple of years they will not cultivate tomato.
Some rich farmer would watch the trend and grow and make profits year after year.
Me: True. The problem of poor is their inability to think what is right and what is not. They try imitating others.
K: Hundreds of farmers sell their land and other belonging and send their children for higher eduation. Because they see middle class lead a good life through education and white collar jobs.
Unfortunately, the schools they attend do not give them the knowledge or skills sufficient to compete with city based middle class children.
There are fewer opportunities than those who seek them, year after year. Also it a competitive world. There are several diemensions which an employer looks at. City born middle class are better equiped than those hail from villeges and suburban
Me: There are colleges selling higher education to anyone and everyone. It is a business. If my assessment is right, then a typical 1% of students who graduate from such schools of higher learning get employment.
Those unsuccessful, spend more time and money on further education and further training, several years on. Even after all that, another 1% could get into a well paid employment.
K: What happens to the rest of the masses. Very few return to villeges.
Me: There are more jobs to day with emoluments that is far below fair wages. One can hang around as a single. In the run as a normal human being you need a house, a spouse, meeting education expenses, entertainment and many others.
Many take-up jobs that does not require higher education at all. Selling credit cards and financial instruments, insurance policies. Lucky ones get employment in B P O where they are paid better.
Me: I know some children who could not repay installments for the borrowings pressurised by those who stood surety.
K: I have listened to several leaders suggesting that education is a panacea for solving economic ills in the society. In 98 instances out of 100, poor become poorer due to the wrong idea that education is for employment.
Me: We can conclude that, the education in India, as of today, is seen by poor as the only way of securing a white collar job. Neither it provide all those who under went high education a due place in the society or give the knowledge it would brighten their lives. But with simple adjustments it is possible to achieve either of the two ways to build a strong and healthy society.
K: How is it different in developed world?
Me: In developed countries, people choose higher education seeking higher knowledge with a larger goal.
In third world countries, to have an assured three time meal one need to hold on to a white collar job.
The reason is simple. (A) Very limited number of people who are enabled, naturally for enhancing their knowledge and benefit by higher education. (B) Education is not perceived as a poverty alleviation tool.
K: Several developed societies have problems with people from third world migrating into theirs. Why do their governments encurrage candidates from east to join their education and make them their citizen?
Me: The leaders of the developed world must have realized this simple truth and seek to enroll students from poor countries, in their universities. They do it even after experiencing the racial, cultural mix adds another die mention to their existing problems.