My father is another example… in his case, it was that my grand parents had a little common sense, and sent him off to Spain to study medicine… his cousins on the other hand, those who did not have the same opportunity are still stuck in that exact loop…

I think a lot of people would agree with you… I mean household environment is super important, but i still tend to think that schools’s role in breaking away from povery is a little bit more important (Family’s role is more important in everything else)… Long time ago, people learnt basic life skills from their families. But now modernity has changed a lot of things. With the extended family disappearing slowly, and parents too busy , trying to provide daily bread. Schools’ roles become more important.

My mother went to public school and never went to university, so in essence she fits the category you are speaking of. But she has done very well for herself; she was able to get out of the loop because of the values that she learnt at home (a home that was economically on the poor side, but definitely not culturally so). In fact, all her brothers and sisters are today better off financially than they were in their childhood, which is a testament to my grandparent’s values and upbringing.

In essence I agree with you. But at the same time, and here I admit to being even more elitist, no matter how much we reform the educational system, when you have children who leave school/uni every afternoon and go back to households that do not uphold values of hard work, respect and critical thinking, will you ever be able to break the ‘catch 22′?

Educational reform that takes into account the training you mentioned is a necessity; but to truly break the loop we need to figure out ways of making the ethics and values associated with these needs a cultural currency as well. With so much talk of morality all around, the space for ethics and values seems more confined than ever.

It’s sad