THE EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE POOR CHILDREN IN THE REPUBLIC MACEDONIA

Abstract

The poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon which has been caused by certain living conditions which imply limited opportunities to participate in the social life.
This work looks into a specific aspect of the poverty - the aspirations of the poor children towards the education.
Due to the numerous definitions we shall operationalize the term child poverty for the needs of this work. Children living in poor families are considered to be poor. They have experienced a lack of material, spiritual or emotional resources necessary for survival, development and progress. Due to the lack thereof, they cannot enjoy their rights, fulfill their potentials in order to be equal community members. There are worrisome data that the percentage of children living in poverty is higher than that the percentage of adults living in poverty.
Most of the children growing in poor families remain trapped in the inter-generation cycle of poverty and in social exclusion. This is the reason for the lack of activities in the direction of developing the knowledge of the poor children, practicing the moral values and knowledge which are required in all areas of life. The children learn how to live their lives in the society or the group they belong to through the process of socialization, which is enabled by education and upbringing.
The goal of this work is to detect the presence/absence of the poor children aspirations towards gaining knowledge, moral values and skills. Special attention shall be given to the aspirations of the children from the poorest Romany families towards gaining knowledge, moral values and skills. The goal of the work is to offer mechanisms for decreasing the number of poor children by stimulating their involvement in the educational process.