Studies prove that girls and boys who attended school and received an education themselves take care that their own children get an education too.  

That means: A person who sends a child to school prepares the way out of poverty for generations to come.  

But schooling and a professional education have even more effects:

Education helps fight Exploitation.

If you know how to read and write, you know your rights. You can defend yourself against corrupt people in office, have the chance to get organized in association with others, appeal to the court or go public - an important tool, for instance, for minorities suppressed by the government.

Education stimulates the Economy.

If you have a job, you have money to spend in the consumer’s world. A craftsman can get independent and hire employees, thus, creating new workplaces. 

Education prevents Illnesses.

Education campaigns reach the educated better than illiterate people. And there is a dire need for education: WHO estimates that each year about six million people die from Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. The costs for medication ruin families; sick people drop out of work and the economy comes to a hold.

Education lowers the Birth Rate.

If a girl attends school, she is more likely to have fewer children: Per each year of schooling, the birth rate drops by one third. This is important for large families in underdeveloped countries where dire poverty reigns. Because there is no social aid or child benefits or if such exist, it is not enough to survive.

Education prevents Crime.

School, professional training, home work– if teenagers are busy they do not loiter the streets, do not steal and they do not take drugs. A school diploma provides an alternative for a criminal career or the daily misery. 

© Jean Paul Muller, Don Bosco JUGEND DRITTE WELT