A Long-Term Investment

Political systems are frequently designed such that politicians have an incentive to act in the best interests of the constituents - namely, reelection. This is generally good, because it can prevent (or at least limit) self-serving tyranny at the expense of the populous. However, politicians ideological goals then can be disrupted by looming election years, because if they can't show hard results and successes, they may be out of a job.

This is really the primary (if not only) reason why outstanding and widespread education programs don't get more political support. By the time today's grade school students are helping improve the global economy, maintain regional peace and stability, and progress technological innovations that save lives and time, individual politicians won't be able to use these results to be reelected. Countless statistics demonstrate that education is a worthwhile investment in the long run. To name a few:

• One extra year of education increases a person’s wages approximately 10 percent.
• The largest positive effect on child malnutrition has been the education of women – even more so than direct food aid.
• Every additional year of schooling reduces an adolescent boy’s risk of becoming involved in conflict by 20 percent.
• A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past age 5.

But all of these results take decades to mature. The trick as advocates is enabling policymakers at all levels to see that, through their support of education, they can help the communities that elected for them to a greater degree than if they just focused on the next few years.

I often pose a question to myself: if all of this worked, and our investment in education paid off, where would that leave me? Certainly without a cause. A month or so ago, while I was on a volunteer trip with Outreach 360 in Jinotega, Nicaragua, I expressed my realization that, as advocates who work through service, we are really trying to "work ourselves out of a job" - we wish we didn't have to do what we do, that the world didn't need us. Here, we have to differ from the politicians: we have to accept that, while we may love what we do, the need for us to do it is ultimately bad. We don't want to be reelected by the help and representation for which the marginalized populations of the world ask. We want to be able to invest long-term.