How Education Makes The Poor, Poorer

British Museum, London

This is part of the three-part series of "controversial things Chloe has to say about our education" and this topic was actually the initial thought that kickstarted the whole process of really reflecting on our education system and how inefficient it can be (jokes I reflect on the education system all the time). But I decided to end the series with this statement because it's probably the "heaviest" topic of it all.

If you have noticed the (very obvious) theme, it is to point out how education has done the total opposite of what it's meant to do - it makes people think they're stupid, it stresses people out, and it oppresses the poor (wew Chloe, bold statements to make eyh). A lot of people can comment on the faulty system we have adopted and adorned, but what are the actual consequences of replacing a brick wall with a tin can in a building (which actually happened btw)? No one really knows until the entire 17 storey high-rise comes crashing down. Here's a hint: there are huge cracks.

TLDR:

When physical needs are not met, it progresses into mental needs. In our current system, both physical and mental needs of the poor are not met, thus, contributing to a cycle of poor people and poorer mentalities.

Random bookstore, Prague

School Is Expensive

Most of us live comfortable lives - we can afford bubble tea (a couple times a week, actually, and who can blame us they're delicious), we can afford a movie or two or three, we can afford tertiary education. We can afford the bundles of notebooks we need to buy at the beginning of the school year, we can afford new white school shoes (or black ones now, really depending on what Maszlee has decided on), we can afford bag packs, we can afford school uniforms.

When we're comfortable, we don't realize that the RM1.70 (and I'm pretty sure the price has increased now) for a notebook could have been a meal for a child who haven't had a grain of rice for two days. When we're complacent, we forget that the RM30+ (tried to search the price up on Lelong.com.my and came across the most inappropriate cosplay uniforms) is a huge lump sum to fork out for the poor (and the uniforms aren't even good looking). When we're affluent (even when we think we're not), we take for granted the RM3 plate of rice we buy during recess, not noticing that some of our classmates are skipping lunch to save up for a new pencil. There are also some NGOs that sponsor certain children with breakfasts every single morning, believing that students will not be able to learn with a hungry stomach (which is very true).

It's pretty self-explanatory, when we have a steady roof over our heads, we do not remember the essential needs of the poor. It's true - most part of education is free and that's great but people are still struggling, so what happens?

Poverty Becomes A Mindset

I read this article once about a boy from a middle-income family entering an almost-private school with significantly wealthier classmates (note to self: save relevant links for future references). Although he knew he couldn't afford it, he would hang out with his pals after school in attempts to fit in (even though it means skipping lunch). After a while it also became his identity: I am poor, I deserve to be poor.

Poverty mindset rears its ugly head in the things we say, the thoughts we think and the actions we take. Buying artificial butter that we know is bad for us, when we could spend $3.00 more to get raw organic butter is a form of poverty mindset.

- "How to Defeat Poverty Mindset"

But when you simply cannot afford to choke out that extra $3.00, who cares if it's unhealthy artificial butter (this is also essentially why obesity is an issue in developing countries)?

This mentality proceeds to affect how you develop and grow as a person. In fact, you make choices not to progress as a person. You victimise yourself and suspect others of having negative intentions to harm you, you are jealous. It affects your sense of worth. When physical needs are not met, it becomes a mental battle - one of the cracks in the pillar of our education is simply that both physical and mental needs are not taken care of.

Providing subsidies and discounts is one way of facilitating through these demands, but how are you fixing the social comparisons that happens in schools that damages a person's sense of worth? How are you telling a child that the inability to buy a new pair of shoes when the current pair has way too many holes in it does not suggest they are worthless? How are you reminding students that they are not a lost cause?

Musikverein Reifferscheid, Vienna

Poverty Is A Vicious Cycle

This isn't a new discovery, many economists has addressed this issue. Here's something to highlight: it's an issue.

The low real income is a reflection of low productivity, which in turn is due largely to the lack of capital. The lack of capital is a result of the small capacity to save and so the circle is complete.

- 3 Major Causes of Vicious Circle of Poverty (With Diagram)

It eventually also affects the entire country and our talent pool and out GDP (insert other economical/financial terms here).

On an individual level, when you have groomed yourself into thinking you're poor, you essentially lack the motivation to try. The world also doesn't make it any easier. There are amazing success stories, of how J.K. Rowling was once dependent on government assistance and is now femes, Jim Carrey was once homeless and etc, but a lot of people try really hard and still don't make the cut. Some people just miss windows after windows of opportunities, some people do their best and still wound up nowhere. Some people can make all the right choices in the world and have the best possible mindset but still end up gasping to just live every day.

When you're poor, as soon as you receive your income, it goes into paying rents or bills. You have no cushion - what if you need a new pan, what if you need a nice shirt for an interview? You don't have the luxury of "saving", even.

Yet another random bookstore in Prague

In A Nutshell

What is the purpose of this series? Firstly, I suppose it's to draw a connection to psychological aspects - our sense of self, our sense of worth etc. Our education system does not cover enough of our mental well-being and it would be silly to ignore it because it's pretty essential: automation is taking over all our jobs and the best thing a human can offer is our mentality, how we think influences how we behave and contribute to our society, poverty is a mindset. Secondly, our ministers need to be aware of these connections, whatever policies they are implementing should be holistic and takes these aspects into consideration (cause like I said, it's important. Please listen to me. I crai. Did I mention the current/previous educational blueprint in Malaysia doesn't have a single mention of 'psychology', 'counselling' or 'mental health'?). Lastly, it's also to just remind ourselves to be grateful - if you have access to education, you're privileged.