these tie social relief to a household to investment in its children s education in the form of educationconditioned cash transfers certainly the education so targeted is only basic however as one step in an attack on the lack of even basic education among the poor it has much to recommend itself even though further study is necessary on issues about the quality of education received and the necessary additional measures to make it part of an overall approach to attacking the problem of education in these countries poverty in the long run is to be tackled through education and development although an antipoverty programme may have more immediate priorities in the short term