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A Critical Evaluation of Poverty in Educational Attainment A Case Study ABSTRACT This piece presents how certain factors can prevent or hinder the educational achievement of children in education. Sociologists have identified a number of theories affecting educational attainment in both boys and girls. These ranges from material and cultural differences to class, hereditary and racial factors among others. Poverty, early marriage, long-held negative attitude about girls in education, teenage pregnancy, household labour and many other factors cause African girls to drop out of school before completion. This study evaluates how poverty as a component of Material and cultural factors, affects the educational attainment of a young Ghanaian girl whose ambition was to become a bio-chemist in future. She started well in primary school in Ghana, but had to drop out from high school, since she was not able to cope with the demands of educational materials and the unsupportive attitudes of her parents who think she is rather a drain on the family’s finances. She was forced into marriage and travelled to the UK. Comparatively, her achievements changed drastically when she came to the UK and enrolled in college where she had all the educational recourses needed to learn at her disposal. INTRODUCTION Despite the equality of opportunity and access in education for both male and female, levels of educational attainment vary from both sexes due to different factors. Lots of teenage girls in Africa drop out of school before completing high school or college, due to poverty. And the level of achievement or attainment remains very low as compared to their boys’ counterparts. (Adetunde, 2008) Meanwhile the education of female is important to the development of a nation. Dr Kyeggrir Aggrey (1910) a famous African educationist once said that “educating a man is simply educating an individual, while educating a woman is educating a whole nation” Inequality in female access to education has continued despite commitments by various governments to bridge the gap. (J.K Agrrey 1910). However, sociologists have studied a number of theories that affect the educational achievement of children. These factors are; Language and Class, Material and Cultural factors, Cultural capital, Positional theory, Social attitudes, Peer pressure and Social learning theory (Haralambos et al 2003) The aforementioned theories affect every child educational attainment in one way or the other. The goal of this study is to critically evaluate how the sociological theories such as Material and cultural factors affect an individual’s educational attainment. CASE STUDY Alice was a very lively young girl full of life. She sometimes comes at the top of her primary school class with gold stars after their monthly class assessments. Teachers admire her determination in class despite the fact that she comes to school late and always doze off during lessons. She never had the right school materials and her peers bully her because of her torn school uniform. She always avoids troubles and keeps to herself, though she is an extrovert. The authorities in the school saw a very bright future before her despite the fact that she does all the house chores and helps her mother in her petty trading before going to school. Theirs was a materially deprived family in sociological terms. Family Alice is the third and the only girl child in a family of seven excluding mother and father. They live in an area where cultural capital was very predominant. The minority rich people control the education system and the poor population or working class where Alice belongs, maintain a low living standard. They live in a two room apartment where her parents have a room and Alice has to share the other room with her brothers. She does not have her privacy and space. Because of the low income of the family, Alice started helping her mother in petty trading at the age of six whiles the boys also aid their father in farming. That hinders her performance in primary school. Performance in High School After completing primary school, Alice enrolled in High school in their village. At this stage, she was twelve years old and gradually going independent in her trade to help the family. Her privacy has always been invaded and no spare time for learning. She does all the house chores as the only girl of the house. The work load from school had also increased, coupled with her personal needs brought her to a stage where she could not cope any longer. She becomes ill very often and skips classes. This had a toll in her academic performance and everybody became concern except dad and mum, who thinks her education would not bring any change in the family’s financial burden, nor profits her since she would eventually get married and be in the kitchen. The African rural man thinks that the female’s main office is the kitchen and this has contributed greatly to the low education of females in the country (Adetunde, 2008) This is a Cultural factor, since the attitudes, values and aspirations of her parents towards her education are low. They do not see the importance of her education. In her second year in high school, Alice started a relationship with a well- to- do school mate as a result of peer pressure and in order to meet some of her demands for educational materials since her parents could not supports her nor afford them. She always missed out from educational trips and do not have access to neither a computer nor the internet. This relationship was known by her parents, who supported it because they were getting financial help from the boy as well. Alice eventually dropped out of High school at the end of the second year of a three year course and was forced into marriage by her parents, just because of poverty. Material and cultural factors played their roles in this young girl’s educational attainment. Alice in college in the UK Alice came to the UK with her middle class husband who wanted the best for her. After giving birth to two children and at the age of twenty four, Alice returned to college determine to re-cap in all that she had lost. Though her childhood dreams of becoming a biochemist could not be fulfilled because of the long years she had to do in college and in the University, Alice took a course in nursing which she successfully completed without any hindrance. She had all the support from her husband and all the educational materials needed. She was financially sound. She completed college with distinction and took up a job in nursing. This could be interpreted that Alice was an intelligent girl but material factors coupled with cultural differences made her educational attainment very difficult from the onset. But the change of environment and the availability of materials and cultural attitude made her successful in the UK. Though she could not succeed to become a biochemist giving the fact that she lacked the cultural support and materials, she was able to do well in college when those were available. DISCUSSION Judging from the above case study, it is worthy to note that Alice’s predicaments arose from two of the theories identified by sociologists, Material and Cultural factors. Whereas she was an intelligent child, whom she demonstrated in her primary school years, the lack of educational materials prevented her from having a normal education in both primary and high school. Material deprivation was a major cause for her entering into relationship. And poverty in the family caused her not to complete High School. This explains Halsey, Heath and Ridge (1980) survey of educational careers of over 8,500 males born between 1913 and 1947; using three social class groups to identify which class group could support their children’s education to the highest level. And they came to the conclusion that service intermediate class continue their education, whereas the major reason for the working class children to drop out was money. This is a material factor according to sociologist and that was the case in Alice’s family. Again, because of poverty, their living standard was very low which resulted in material deprivation. Like Douglas’ (1964) investigation into how living standard can affect children’s educational attainment, Alice fell into the “unsatisfactory” category, where facilities such as private bathrooms, the sole use of hot water and toilet was not available. She share those things with her other siblings and parents. The children in this category scored lower in ability and reading tests. So Douglas (1964) concluded that impoverished home environment can cause cumulative effect on educational attainment. However, the low level of Alice parents’ educational achievement was also a factor in her educational attainment. She was discouraged as well. Culturally, they do not see the importance of her education since they did not achieve it themselves. They lack the attitude of encouragement. They were in a social class that do not see any importance of educating girls. Their norms, values and attitudes are different from the middle class parents who would want their children complete their education and become successful like them to maintain the social class difference. Douglas (1964) found that the degree of parental interest in their children’s education was single most important factor affecting their educational attainment or progress. Though Alice’s teachers showed an interest in her performance, her parents’ view was contrary, this also affected her attainment. She became duller in high school because there was no encouragement from her family. The values and attitudes of working class parents are different from those of the rest of society in terms of education. Working class children tend to leave school earlier because of lack of parental encouragement or from the lack of parental income (Douglas 1964) Alice experienced those two factors in her quest in her educational attainment. Moreover, Alice was also under peer pressure. She was an adolescent girl surrounded by sexual images and from her peers which made her believe that she could come out of her financial predicaments by entering into a relationship. At the same time there was lack of communication between her and her parents about her sexuality and the consequences of casual relationships. This also affected her educational attainment. REFERENCES Haralambos, M. Richardson, J. Taylor, P. Yeo, A. (2003) Sociology in Focus for AQA AS Level: Edited by Michael Haralambos and Peter Langley: Causeway Press Lancashire. Abercrombie, N. Hill, S. Turner, S. (2000) The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology: The Penguin Group, London. Jackson, S. (2001) Nobody Ever Told Us School Mattered: British Agency for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) London. Chitty, A. (2008) what to do when your child hates school: White Ladder Press, Surrey. Adetunde I. A. (2008) Journal of social sciences: University of Mines and Technology Press, Tarkwa, Ghana. S.M. Jacobs (1996) An African Intellectual in the United States: Negro History Press, New York, cited from Aggrey J. E. (1910) Dictionary of African Christian Biography: Methodist Books, New York. BIBLIOGRAPHY Haralambos, M. Richardson, J. Taylor, P. Yeo, A. (2003) Sociology in Focus for AQA AS Level: Edited by Michael Haralambos and Peter Langley: Causeway Press Lancashire. Abercrombie, N. Hill, S. Turner, S. (2000). The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology: The Penguin Group, London. Jackson, S. (2001) Nobody Ever Told Us School Mattered: British Agency for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) London. Chitty, A. (2008) what to do when your child hates school: White Ladder Press, Surrey. Adetunde I. A. (2008) Journal of social sciences: University of Mines and Technology Press, Tarkwa, Ghana. Jacobs S. M. (1996) An African Intellectual in the United States: Negro History Press, New York, cited from Aggrey J.E. (1910) Dictionary of African Christian Biography: Methodist Books, New York.