How to Reduce Poverty
A very good morning I bid to our wise and deep judges, precise timekeeper and respected audience. This morning I would like to talk about how to reduce poverty. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, poverty is defined as the state of being poor.
Before I elaborate on how to reduce poverty, allow me to share with you some devastating and worrying facts on poverty. For your information, poverty has always been one of the most critical and disturbing issues in the world. According to United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund or UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Obviously, they die due to extreme malnutrition. According to www.global issues.org, at least 80% of humanity lives in poverty. In other words, over 3 billion people in the world are imprisoned by poverty.
Based on www.bread.org, 925 million people in the world are suffering from hunger. According to the same source, 9 million children died in 2008 before they celebrated their fifth birthday. In 2005, it was reported that 1.4 billion people earn less than 1.25 dollars day. That would be 4 Malaysian ringgit a day or 120 ringgit a month. Can anyone enjoy life with that very little amount of money? I leave it all to you to do the calculation by referring to the current standard of living. I hope the revelation of the global figures will trigger a positive change in each of us.
Of all the ways on how to reduce poverty, the most effective one is through good education. Good education is the mother of all positive changes. According to www.globalissues.org., poverty is getting out of control in developing countries. There are so many factors which contribute to the rise of poverty such as war and corruption. Continuous war will definitely destroy most of the important buildings such as schools and universities. Obviously, going to school will remain as a sweet dream. On the other hand, corruption will make the rich richer and the poor poorer. In other words, country revenue has not been divided properly.
In order to enjoy a better economy, each nation should work on providing good education to their students. Scholarships should be given instead of study loan because developing countries are not as rich as developed countries. Developing countries should abolish study loans because study loans will hinder students who did well in academic to continue their study. If study loans are not abolished, the poor will remain poor as the world today is all about knowledge and expertise. Free education should also be considered as an option as the old saying goes, “Give a man a fish, he can eat for a day; Teach him to fish, he can eat fish for a lifetime”.
Education is very effective in changing the way we think. For example, a degree holder will definitely not share the same level of thinking with a primary six student. Furthermore, education helps us to think critically about the causes and the effects of our actions. Education also breeds generations who know how to think and rationalize small and critical matters. A degree holder also enjoys a higher salary than those who just rely on SPM and PMR result. A degree holder will also have the financial ability to own a house and a car. On the other hand, the uneducated ones will always go for the cheapest and of the lowest quality. In other words, poverty is undeniably equal to illiteracy. However, before any nations work on improving of the quality of education, they should first recognize and appreciate the teachers as they are the ones who build each country directly and indirectly. Great teachers will always produce great students. According to Sherwood Anderson, an American novelist and short story writer, the whole object of education si to develop the mind. The mind should be a thing that works.
In conclusion, good education is the main key to reduce poverty as it is pointless to come up with so many economic strategies without paying full attention to the importance of having good education. Good education is equal to a better and a stronger economy of a particular country. Thank you so much for your attention.
M.J (25/03/2011)
this is a very good thought
ReplyDelete