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Latwell Nyangu Youth Interactive Writer

Being poor should not be an obstacle for students to attain their dreams.

Poverty is a growing issue in the developing societies, with school going children face a plethora of challenges.

Students in poverty are as diverse as people in any other socio-economic class. Despite the best strategy for increasing student effort and motivation being to nurture strong relationships between students and their teachers, backgrounds matter when motivating the student to achieve great heights.

Imagine being at school with an empty stomach not that you are fasting, but because there is nothing to eat.

Thanks to God that he created us without transparent stomachs, I am sure the gap between the haves and the have nots would have been miles apart.

Family background is an important predictor of academic success, and a large body of evidence indicates that poverty has a direct and negative effect on educational performance.

In order to be responsive to the needs of students, it is helpful to consider the constraints that poverty often places on their lives and how such conditions influence learning and academic achievement.

Poverty affects students in different ways. These factors include students’ health and well-being; literacy and language development; access to physical and material resources; and level of mobility.

At times, the dressing and lack of money matter for some students who will fight hard to take away poverty from them.

Some get to an extent of facing segregation from other students, but focus and determination is important.

Growing up we would walk distances to and fro school, worse spending the day without eating  a proper meal, but by virtue such a background, the effort would be multiplied.

Many at times we went to school without eating anything and only to eat in the evening when we return home.

We come from different backgrounds, but it is such humble beginning that push us to do better.

We all have different motivations and being a student comes with much responsibility, yet the background determines where one is going.

From personal experience, I have also gone through a lot in which I would not eat in the morning, afternoon but have food later at home.

We would normally laugh at each other that one is surviving on a zero-zero-one eating scale in which you would eat once when you get back home.

Poverty doesn’t kill, but it should motivate you towards achieving your goals.

Apart from hunger at school, resources are also a major setback for students. While uniforms, printing of assignments, school fees, transport are major hindrances in the  academic journey.

And all these challenges matter in motivating students, although many may fail to make it to the final touchline.

Students need to defy the odds and shrug off the poverty background which follows them.

Not all of us were born fortunate, but we have backgrounds which need us to change through succeeding academically.

Research shows that children from low-income families face higher risks in many areas of their development, including academic performance.

However, some children from low-income homes excel academically despite their disadvantaged background.

The impact of poverty on the lives of children and their families is devastating, long lasting, and generational, but that can be a motivation.

Children are often viewed as the greatest victims because they enter poverty by virtue of their family’s financial situation which they are powerless to alter. In most instances, such backgrounds inspire students to turn the tables and fight poverty.

Poverty adversely affects children’s opportunities and well-being in terms of physical, emotional, social, and cognitive abilities and school achievement.

Families with a lower socioeconomic status have been found to have fewer financial and educational resources and less access to social and cultural capital.

The deficit in family resources  adversely affects the children’s well-being.

Over the years, the income gap has widened between rich and poor students.

Educational outcomes are one of the key areas influenced by family incomes. Children from low-income families often start school already behind their peers who come from more affluent families, as shown in measures of school readiness.

Some are inspired by rich families while humble beginnings play an inspirational role behind most successful individuals.

The incidence, depth, duration and timing of poverty all influence a child’s educational attainment, along with community characteristics and social networks.

Poverty remains a stubborn fact of life even in developing countries. In particular, the poverty among students is still a continuing concern.

One of the key areas influenced by family income is educational outcomes.

School readiness reflects a child’s ability to succeed both academically and socially.

There are many challenges faced by children raised in poverty. Some challenges are long-term obstacles such as chronic stress and changes in brain structure that effect emotion and memory. Other challenges are more situational, causing emotional and social struggles.

Living in poverty upsets brain development and will result in behavioural problems in the classroom.

Poverty is a reality today and will continue to be a significant factor in our society. There will always be a split in society between those who have and those who don’t have.

Students raised in poverty are indeed more apt to experience emotional and social challenges, mental health issues, stress in their everyday life, and cognitive lags due to significant changes in their brain structure in areas related to memory and emotion.

But it is through this that most successful individuals today came from poor backgrounds, that all their motivation was to change where they are came from.

The gap between students raised in poverty and those raised in more affluent homes is there, but both backgrounds matter most in determining our destinies. Run your own race, we run different races!