Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
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Culture and parental attitudes:
Low parental education levels. The NCFA 2012 found that parents with low levels of educational
attainment are more prone to sending their children to work and are less persuaded about the
benefits of education, passing on their negative perception on education to their children359.
These findings are corroborated by the findings in section 2.
Low quality of education. This negative perception of education is not just based on the level of
education of parents. It is also linked to the low quality of the education system and weaknesses
in the system (see section 3.2 for governance failures and 3.3. for resource issues). As the majority
of students failing the Tawjihi exam are left with no clear alternatives, it is not always clear to
parents and students that there is a clear return to investment in education.
Low future job prospects. In addition, even those who pass the Tawjihi and joining university, they
may not necessarily get a job given the oversupply of university students (and chronic
undersupply of skilled craftsmen and technicians)360. This mismatch of skills leads to high rates
of youth unemployment at 31.8%. With such dire prospects and in the face of economic
constraints, even more educated parents may not keep their low performing children in schools
and enrol them instead into apprenticeships or labour to ‘learn a skill’.
Traditions and society. In certain sectors of society and occupations, it is often expected that the
child will work in the family business. This is particularly true when the family business is a shop
or farming. One UNICEF study finds for instance that: “ Jordanian children from families who raise
cattle are more likely to be involved in work than children who are not”361.
Low parental involvement: Finally, low parental involvement in schools and in supporting their
children leads not only to lower access rates (through higher risks of drop-out) but also affects
the quality of the education by way of weak school accountability for performance.
359 UNICEF (2014)
360 NCHRD (2016)
361 UNICEF (2014)
Table 19 Relationship between working children and their parents’ level of education
Education level Father (%) Mother (%)
Illiterate 18 26.7
Primary 22.7 24.7
Basic 22.0 18.0
Secondary 26.9 24.7
Diploma 4.3 3.3
Bachelor 4.0 1.8
Master 1.1 0.6
Source: NCFA (2012)