According to the World Health Report, the top 10% of wealthy individuals control 86% of the entire global wealth while the ‘poorer’ half of the globe only owns 1% of the world’s wealth. 50% of the 2.2 billion children around the world live in poverty - therefore every other child lives in dire circumstances.
While many children in established regions enjoy the luxury of learning in a multi modal environment, children in these establishing regions have limited to no access to such educational environments.
The International Labour Organisation estimates that some 215 million children globally between the ages of 5 and 17 years have to work, so there is often no time left to attend school.
The lack of schooling leads to a poor education and has negative effects on the population as a whole as well as the individual child. Children leave their youth without having acquired a basic knowledge level, which greatly impedes the social and economic developments of these establishing countries.
Having personally worked with children in these regions, it has been clear that if we enable children to discover the world of education we will be able to help each individual child achieve their personal dreams in today’s emerging 21st Century Digital Economy.
Providing opportunity for a new generation to beat the poverty trap should be a key goal. However, in today’s technology based world, the traditional teaching methods in these regions represent an outdated way to address the global wealth issue. These traditional teachings include farming, mining, stitching and cleaning.
Over the past few years, various organisations and philanthropists have attempted to help solve this global crisis in the form of providing educational technology to these regions however, only a small percentage of the underprivileged population has been able to utilise this material to create a better future.
Although many have argued that the cause of poverty is the shortage of expertise, it is merely an excuse for lack of opportunity.
Take Sir Li Ka- shing for example, are there any hands here that know who he is?
When Li was young, he and his family fled from China to Hong Kong in order to avoid the civil war. At a mere fifteen years of age, his father died of tuberculosis. In order to support his family, Li had to leave his education behind and work at a plastic plant. Unlike many, Li (who was still a minor) was given the unique opportunity by the plant owner to discover exactly how to operate the plant. In 1950, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company, a few years later he grew to be the largest supplier of plastic and to date is the wealthiest person in Asia with a net worth of $31.9 billion. The plant owner who was gifted with education gave back and allowed Li to create a better future for himself and his family.
Now, although Li was given a unique opportunity to learn, there are many, many other youths across the globe who have not gifted with such an opportunity and are forced to work in hostile, high- risk and hazardous environments.
If us, somewhat educated individuals replicated the plant owners mentality in the future we could together empower less educated children to believe in themselves, their unique individual abilities and personal talents. It only takes something as simple as giving someone who is less fortunate the opportunity to learn a new skill to help solve poverty as a whole. Alternatively, if you’re feeling a tad generous you can take the ‘mainstream’ approach of donating in the form of a cash sponsorship or through your old books to your local charity.
Given that education is a key leverage point to tackle the negative impacts of poverty and that these children want to attend school, a renewed, 21st century style commitment to public education is essential.
Now, I’d like to leave you with one quote today, true intelligence is not about knowledge, but imagination.
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