Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
7
school early or receive poor quality education.12 This kind of inequality of opportunity leads to
wider inequality of outcomes later in life putting people in a vicious circle of poverty.
Higher levels of education is positively correlated with labour market outcomes and
earnings. According to the analysis conducted in the report Education at a Glance 2016 by OECD
it is shown that in OECD countries unemployment rate is 12.4 percent among adults with less
than upper secondary education while it is 7.3 percent for adults with upper secondary or post-
secondary non tertiary education degree and 4.9 percent for adults with tertiary education.13
According to the same report, adults with higher education levels are also more advantaged with
regards to labour market earnings. In OECD countries, on average, adults without an upper
secondary education degree earn 19 percent less for full-time employment compared to adults
having an upper secondary education degree.14 This is also the case in other country contexts.
In fact a study of 139 countries show that returns to schooling is highest in Rwanda, South Africa,
Ethiopia, Namibia and Burundi which are all in Sub-Saharan Africa.15
Education has substantial positive effects on health outcomes. There is strong empirical
evidence showing that education is at least as important as income when comparing their effects
on health outcomes.16 The effects and benefits of education on health outcomes are
multidimensional, and can be found at the individual, community and larger social/cultural
levels.17 At the individual level, research shows that morbidity rates are lower for persons who
completed a higher level of education. More educated individuals are also less likely to suffer
from chronic diseases and their physical and mental status are more likely to function
efficiently.18 Evidence also suggests that an additional four years in education decreases under-
5 mortality of their children by 1.8 percentage points, reduces risk of cardiovascular diseases
and diabetes by 2.16 and 1.8 percentage points, respectively. Moreover, more educated
individuals are found to have fewer lost days at work due to sickness or poor health.19
Starting from pre-primary education, access to quality education builds a solid
foundation for a more inclusive society where every individual is provided opportunities
for life-long learning. Pre-primary education becomes a child’s first encounter outside of their
immediate environment. Taking into account that the first years in life are crucial, ensuring a
safe, secure, high quality brain stimulating environment would enable children to thrive. Newly
conducted research finds that children who received quality early childhood education reached
significantly better outcomes compared to those who did not receive centre-based child care or
received lower quality care.20 Investing in children at early ages narrows down the gap between
12 Cutler & Lleras-Muney (2006); Heckman (2011)
13 (OECD, 2016a)
14 (OECD, 2016a)
15 (Montenegro & Patrinos, 2014)
16 (Feinstein, Sabates, Anderson, Sorhaindo, & Hammond, 2006)
17 (Zimmerman, Woolf, & Haley, 2015)
18 (Cutler & Lleras-Muney, 2006)
19 (Cutler & Lleras-Muney, 2006).
20 Garcia, Heckman, Leaf, & Prados (2016)