Knowledge is Power

Education is a life-long process but the bases of knowledge starts with school. Inequality is found around the world in all areas like: poverty, slavery, politics, and education. Education is different all around the globe but some areas do not have any formal education. This fact reminded me of the theory we discussed in class: that education leads to prosperity. It is believed that with education you are guaranteed to succeed, but for some, education is not available so they are bound to be poor and perceived as insignificant. I wish this theory was just a false belief but evidence from around the world shows otherwise. Countries with little or no education have more poverty, slavery, and a lower economic living.


Slavery is still widely practiced in many countries and is correlated with the availability of education. In Ghana slavery of children is a large problem. As described by Kevin Bales in “Global Slavery” children in Ghana are being used to fish in Lake Volta late at night. The children have to dive into the freezing cold water with no light and weights attached to their feet. Their task is to retrieve snagged nets, however this job is very dangerous and bodies are found washed up on shore everyday. Sadly the police push it off as common drowning. Even worse is that the parents are “cooperative” with the slave labor of their children. This is partly because “with schooling hard to obtain and family incomes around the starvation level, parents sometimes agree to let their children go.” (Bales, 11) The International Organization of Migration (IOM)has stepped in and helped the situation by providing increased income and supplies to the families, allowing the parents to be less pressured and giving kids the opportunity go to school. If children can go to school and learn a skill they will eventually earn more money than working as a slave. The problem is that for most rural towns the closest education is in the city and rather than sending a child to the city, where they will hopefully learn a skill and one day earn good money, they have the children work in slave labor. This is a much faster route and more guaranteed. If given the chance parents will choose education for their kids like “The better-off families of the poorest villages used their resources and connections to get their children out of the poorest villages.” (Bales 14) The best way to tackle the problem of globalized slavery is to go the villages and fix the problem. To do this a universal education is one important establishment that needs to be implemented. I am not saying that education will solve all slavery problems but I think education can do a lot when everyone has access to it. When everyone is able to learn a skill or a trade they can then go off and apply it. Slavery is also associated with poverty which is sometimes another indicator of a poor education.


Poverty as seen in the villages and many other areas around the world, including the United States, is associated with little or no education. Not everyone who is poor is uneducated but it is more likely that they are. In today’s economy you can be educated and still not get a job but in other countries if you do not have an education then you will never have a decent paying job. According to Global Issues.org “nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.” That is nearly a billion people that are not significantly educated, and therefore will most likely not get well developed jobs. “Education is indispensable to the economic health of a good society,” said Plato, who believed that education contributes to economic wealth. The problem is poverty stricken areas do not have the money or resources to establish schools and therefore their economy is not able to grow through education. Instead it continues to struggle. With education hard to obtain many children are “kept from school because they are needed at home to support their family” (Dollar a Day) and this lack of education “keeps children from obtaining jobs that would lift them out of poverty.” Education and poverty become a constant cycle of continuance. There are ways to get around education and still be successful but this is rare and difficult to do. Success is tied to your economic status which is also influenced by education. Individuals have a higher chance of being successful both personally and economically if you go to school and graduate than if you’re not educated at all. “Education increases workers’ average earnings and productivity.” (Schweke) Adding support to the fact that education is important for everyone.


Looking at different areas of the world it is easy to see that education is not available to everyone. Children in India can’t easily get to school and therefore find other things to do to help the family. Usually children start to work at an early age and as shown in the moving “Global Slavery” many get pulled into slavery, or abducted into slavery. When freed and interviewed after years in slavery one child stated that by being un-intelligent anyone can cheat you but if you are educated you know better. This is a powerful statement because many of the people in slavery don’t know how to read and so when they are asked to sign a contract they don’t know what it says. If education was available to children like the ones in the movie I think the percentage of slavery would go down, it would not be eliminated but it may be reduced. Also if education were available for everyone all around the world there may be fewer people in poverty. If more generations of people are educated and skilled they will be able to get better paying jobs. Eventually children will not be forced to work at a young age unless they choose to drop out of school. Overall I think education is important and beneficial in more ways than just obtaining knowledge. Globalization of education may help this effort but cannot resolve everything.


Works Cited:
Schweke, William Smart Money: Education and Economy Development. July 7, 2004. EPI Book
Library.thinkquest.org A Dollar a Day: causes of poverty
www.eric.ed.gov World Bank George Paacharopoulos-project director
Bales, Kevin “Understanding Global Slavery”University of California Press. 2005
Global Slavery video: provided by Google videos


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