Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
8
wealthier children and children fromdisadvantaged backgrounds. Evidence suggests that when
disadvantaged children are provided high quality education from age 0 to 5, the rate of return
for every dollar spent on this education reaches 13 percent per annum.21
Education can serve as an equalizer in society by closing the deficit emerged as a result of
gender-based differences and discriminations. Provision of equal opportunities in terms of
access, attendance, equity and equality for both boys and girls starting from the early years
contributes to their future opportunities. While investing in both boys’ and girls’ education is
crucial, educating girls pays off in greater terms. When girls’ education is assured, their
economic productivity and family income increase. Higher educated women have more control
in their own life and they are more likely to delay marriages, have lower fertility rates, and have
better health outcomes.22 For instance, if women in sub-Saharan Africa or South and West Asia
had completed secondary school education, it is estimated that teenage pregnancies would drop
by 59 percent, from 3.4 million to 1.4 million.23 Moreover, the rate of return in secondary
schooling is higher for girls than boys, 18 percent vs. 14 percent, respectively.24
Education also has potential to create awareness on environmental protection, resilient
cities, sustainable agriculture, consumption and climate change and can be a tool for
achieving sustainable development goals. As urbanisation is a fast-growing trend in the
world, life in cities creates various opportunities along with social, economic and environmental
challenges. Education is one of the main reasons people migrate to big cities. As the education
industry is mainly driven in urban cities, economic development and innovation also accrue
there. While more crowded cities bear more problems, such as traffic congestion or air pollution,
innovations responding these problems also are born in these urban havens. More educated
people are more likely to be concerned about the environment and become advocates of
sustainable development solutions.25
BACKGROUND ON THE REPORT
OIC is an inter-governmental organization composed of 57 countries from diverse
geographic locations and income groups. These countries are spread over four continents;
Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. OIC countries are also diverse with respect to their
income groupings. Overall out of the 57 member countries 7 of themare high-income, 16 of them
are upper middle-income, 18 of them are lower middle-income and 16 of them are low-income
countries.
The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) adopted poverty alleviation as a cooperation
area in 2012. In this regard, the Working Group on Poverty Alleviation publishes studies on
21 Garcia, Heckman, Leaf, & Prados (2016)
22 (UNESCO, 2014b; USAID, 2008)
23 (UNESCO, 2014b).
24 (G Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2004).
25 (UNESCO, 2014b; World Values Survey, 2014)