Introduction
There are many factors causing a social divide in a country. This article will address some of the factors. Poverty is one the main factors that creates the social divide in any society. As a result of the financial status of people, individuals live in certain areas in a society. The poor lives in one area and the rich lives in another area. Therefore we have created a social divide in housing.
Social divide also exists in education due to some negative connotations associated with some schools. In addition, the fees alone for some schools also create a social divide as some of these fees are barriers for entrance for some individuals.
Social divide also exists due to the ethnicity of an individual. You will find that people of the same race and nationality tend to socialize together creating a social divide among other nationalities.
Another factor creating social divide is the perception associated with the white collar jobs vs the blue collar jobs. Some people in society tend to respect and look up to individuals more in white collar positions than those in blue collar positions and as a result social divide exists.
How to bridge the social divide?
Despite the fact that the social divide has been around for years, I believe that we can bridge the social divide.
Education
Like most families in TCI, I came from a poor family. However, I was blessed with a scholarship from a private donor and was able to overcome that social divide. Therefore, one way we can bridge the poverty social divide is to provide educational opportunities for the poor. This can be in the form of scholarships either from private individuals, companies and the public sector. There are some people who are poor in finances but very rich in their minds. One of the greatest investment you can make in the lives of individuals is to provide them with access to higher learning. I have seen many people who were once poor are now rich and the contributing factor was education.
This is one of the things that I love about the United States. The USA has thousands of colleges and universities and one of those colleges and universities will accept you. Not everyone will go to an Ivy League school but that is ok but you will have an opportunity to attend college which will help to bridge the social divide.
For elementary and secondary education, I believe the teacher/student ratio in public school should be no more than 15 students to 1 teacher. There is too much overcrowding in the schools. This needs to be corrected even if it means having multiple classrooms for the same grades. If we can reduce the overcrowding in the public schools, maybe more parents will send their children to the public school.
Housing
We need to get rid of the shanty homes and provide an opportunity for all residents to be given an opportunity to live in affordable homes. This will require joint efforts between the private sector and the public sector to build luxury but affordable homes in different areas. This will help to bridge the social divide in housing.
White Collar vs Blue Collar
It is very unfortunate that there is a social divide in a society based on the job that one occupies. Not everyone will be doing the same job and so we have to learn to appreciate and respect all jobs and people. If the truth be told, you will find that many blue collar workers are making more than some white collar workers. We need to remove the perception and accept people for who they are.
Conclusion
Social divide is a serious issue in any society. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this issue. If you are in a position to remove the barriers associated with social divide, then please do so. Be very careful how you treat people because of their social status. Sometimes the people who you look down on maybe the same people who may end up helping you as people will not always remain in the same state they were born into.